When their worlds collide
by CohenNAtwood
Summary: OC/DC Marissa is introduced to Ryan's world. Is there still something between Joey and Pacey? What's going on between Seth and Summer? Updated chapter Warning its Dark RM based.
1. Meet Joey

**Okay so I wrote this awhile ago and I decided to post it. I'm still not finished with it but I have written a lot on this already so I've decided to go on ahead and post it. I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Meeting Joey**

I used to believe that life was what you made of it? As a little girl I dreamed that one-day everything would pan out for me. Turns out no such luck...

You see I'm twenty-six and have still yet to discover what life should be. I've lost all hope in what I believed in because the way I figure life wouldn't be so miserable if it wasn't supposed to end up this way.

I mean sure I have my work. I love being a school counselor. The children are what I live for. God knows I don't have much else in my life. A few friends maybe not much to hold on to at least for now any ways.

Mostly everyone who even meant something to me are gone now but I guess I played a role in that. I mean who leaves town after high school with no forwarding address? I'm sure it shocked them but for me it was the only way to rid myself of Capeside and everything that I've lost.

That would be my mom you see she died of cancer when I was thirteen. I've never really gotten over that but who would at that age? My dad well last I heard he was on probation living in Arizona but other then that I haven't spoken to him since I was in high school when they arrested him a second time for drug trafficking.

The only one from my family that I hear from is Bess she's my sister and she no longer has ties to Capeside she moved to Virginia with her two sons and her husband Bodie. God I miss not having them around but I do go and see them when I can.

As for my friends well I guess they went on to live successful lives. I can only imagine this because I've had no contact with them since graduation day. It's not that I planned it this way it just seemed to happen that way.

I hear about Dawson through my sister she keeps in touch with Gail his mom. It turns out he is getting more famous by the day and I'm sure there's an oscar in his future. Why just today I picked up the star and his face was grazing the pages. I'm so proud of him I only hope he knows that.

Jen Lindley well now there's a story it turns out Ms. Lindley is equally as famous she's America's new it girl. It turns out she went out to Hollywood and now she's a big actress.

Jack I heard is a big time sports writer no surprises their Mr. football himself. Then of course I've heard that Andie is living it up in Italy married and about to have a little one of her own or so Bessie says. Well that's pretty much what I have on every one.

Although there is Pacey and I don't really nowhere he is or what he's been up to. I've just heard from Bess that it seems as though he followed my lead after he hadskipped town on that yacht before Graduation it turns out he never came home again. I only hope that he's all right. The only thing I could do is hope.

As for me I'm here in New Port just about to start another workday. I have my daily run then grab my coffee change and I'm out the door for work. It may seem simple but it's what I'm about this days.

Before you go on feeling bad for me I have made a few friends living here. I can't help it that most of them can be my grandparents but that's pretty much who live in my building.

Except for Audrey who's my age and lives upstairs she's the closest I've got to a best friend these days. In all honesty it's pretty hard to get close to me it's not an easy thing, which kinda makes up for my lack of friends.

Then there's the other reason I haven't found any one who could ever take the place of my old friends nor would I want to. I've thought about getting in touch with them but I've come to the conclusion that it's just to hard and it's been to long. So I just go on keeping them with me wherever I go.

Oh well off to work...

" Joey hey I was wondering when you were going to get in this morning" Audrey said. " Come on Audrey I come in every day at this time. Now kindly get off of my chair and go tend to your students who would like to get first period over with." She said.

Audrey laughed "There's that sense of humor I know and love. Well I'm off to teach proper English. We still on for lunch?" She said. "Oh right. I can't do it today I have an appointment with a new student.

How about tomorrow?" She said. "Okay I'll let you off the hook this time. Bye Jo." Audrey said. "Goodbye Ms. Lidell" She said laughing.

By lunch she had set up most of the things she wanted to hand to the new student. This was her job to help make their lives easier.

She heard a knock at the door. She looked up from her computer and adjusted her black-rimmed glasses. "Come on in" She said. The door opened and in walked a young girl about fifteen if she had to guess.

" Hi you must be Marissa Cooper" Joey said to the girl who had just came into her office.


	2. Meet Marissa the new girl in town

**Okay so here's a little of the back Story so you guys don't get confused. Ryan has lived with the Cohen's for a year now. So Marissa has just moved from Austin Texas so she's new to New Port. She's now currently living with her uncle. But with the move comes with a past she rather keep hidden at least for now. She finds herself immediatelyinteracting with Ryan. Joey Potter well she's been in New Port for awhile. It seems that after she left Capeside she moved out there to go to school and found herself moving to New Port and is now working as a school counselor in "Harbor. So as for Seth and Summer they will play roles in this story as well. Both have never spoken but Seth is still obsessed with her so that hasn't changed. We will even eventually see Marissa becoming friends with Summer. So this story was originally intended to be about Ryan and Marissa and Joey and Pacey who we've yet to found out what exactly happened to? To find out read on.**

**Meet Marissa the new girl in town**

She looked up from her computer and adjusted her black-rimmed glasses. "Come on in" She said. The door opened and in walked a young girl about fifteen if she had to guess. " Hi you must be Marissa Cooper" Joey said. She said. **"**Right**"** Marissa said. **"**I'm Ms. Potter by the way" She said.

"I know your names on the door" Maissa said. Joey laughed. "Of course well I see you're a transfer from Caldcott high in Austin, Texas. That's a long way huh?" She said. "I guess." Marissa said. "You know your parents where welcome to come with you today. I would have been more then welcome to speak with them" She said.

"Thanks but they're not really the speaking kind and I'm not really living with them at the moment" She said sadly. "Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know that. Well you could have very well brought your guardian with you" Joey said.

"My uncle had to work" She said looking at her. "That's fine why don't you tell him he can call me if he has any questions" She said. "Okay."Marissa said. "Alright well your schedule is all done and I've taken the liberty of finding you someone to show you the ropes.

His name is Seth Cohen and he'll meet you outside when you leave this office. Any questions?" Joey said. "No I'm good" She said. "Great well feel free to come and see me if any come up.

My doors always open" She said reminding Marissa. She smiled. "Thanks Ms. Potter." She said getting up to leave. "And Marissa good luck I know you'll love it at harbor" She said, She smiled and left.

She walked out of the office and looked at her schedule. It looked simple enough. She saw a guy outside waiting. Seth Cohen? She said guessing. "Yeah you must be Marissa Cooper" he said looking back at her.

"Yeah" She said. "Marissa Cool I like that. Okay well so how'd you like Ms. Potter?" he said. "She seemed nice enough" Marissa said grabbing her bag and walking with him. "She's great which is more then I can say for most of the faculty here" he said.

"Yeah it was the same at Caldcott too" She said. "Your old school?" he said. "Yeah" Marissa said. "Well don't worry before you know it you'll get used to Harbor and you might even dare I say make a few friends or if you're like me your only companion will be a plastic horse." He said with a smile.

She looked at him weirdly but he did seem nice. "I hope so." She said. "Please I know your type you will most definitely make friends here. Already got one now let's go to French before Mr. Kent freaks out that we're late" Seth said. "Okay" She said and they went to class.

Marissa got through most of the day unscathed except for the end of the day when her locker decided not to agree with her. "Come on just open" She said banging on it.

"It's useless" She said to herself. "What's your combination?" She heard a voice say. She jumped. "What?" She said staring at the guy talking to her. He smiled

"Your combination? What is it?" He said. "Oh I'm 42 12 18 23" She said. "He turned the knob dialed in the numbers and voila opened the locker. "Sometimes you have to jingle the lock before you can open it" He said looking at her.

"Thanks" She said grabbing her book bag from it and closing it. "Your new here aren't you?" He said following her outside. "Is it that obvious?" She said with a laugh. "No you just don't scream Orange County is all" He said.

"I'm from Austin" She said. "Ah a southern Belle" He said. "No misconceptions okay I'm not like that at all" She said. "So than what are you like Ms Austin?" He said teasing

." Why would I tell someone that when I don't even know their name?" She said. "It's Ryan Atwood" He said. "Congratulations" She said.

"Sarcasm I like that. You'll do fine here Marissa" He said with a smile. "How did you?..." She said confused to how he would know her name. "I have my sources. I hope you enjoy Harbor maybe I'll see you around sometime" He said. "Yeah maybe" She said. "Later" He said walking away. "Bye" She said and she headed for home or at least to her uncles.


	3. Meet the Uncle, walk home, and job

**Meeting the Uncle,A walk home from school,and a new Job**

By the time Marissa reached home it was about four. She closed the door. She dropped her bag and headed for the kitchen. She wanted to find out what the smell was. She went in and found her uncle. He looked up.

"Hey Marissa so how was school?" He said. "It was different then Caldcott that's for sure." She said. "Yeah I guess it does take some getting used to. How about that counselor was he nice?" He said.

"She was really nice it turns out according to Seth that she's everybody's favorite in the school." She said. "Seth?" He said with a smile. "Seth Cohen he lives two blocks away and he seems kind of cool." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. He laughed. "So it seems like you had a pretty good first day" He said.

"Well that was until my locker decided to disagree with me" She said. He laughed. "It's not funny it was totally embarrassing!" She said laughing a little. "So how'd you get it to open?" He said. "I didn't Ryan helped me out" She said.

"Now why doesn't Ryan sound like a girl's name?" He said teasing. She laughed. "Because Uncle Pacey he's not a girl. He is very much a guy. Anyways he was sort of creepy he knew my name without even asking for it" She said.

"Maybe he asked around. That does tend to happen" He said. "Yeah well I've had enough of meet the new kid for today. I'm going to wash up for dinner" She said. "Marissa" He said. She turned around. "Yeah" She said.

"Your mother called she wanted to know if you were alright. She asked if you could call her later" He said. "Yeah well she should have thought about that before she picked him over me" She said walking away.

"Marissa wait" He said. "No Uncle Pacey I'm done with her. You don't know what it was like. I'm tired of it." She said not wanting to go further. "So talk to me" He said. "There's no point I'm just done with her, with my dad, with all of it. Excuse me" She said walking away. Pacey watched her go.

A little while later Marissa was still in her room. He was bringing her pasta he could tell from the argument that she wouldn't be coming out. He knocked on the door.

"Maris?" He said. "I'm not hungry." She said. "Can I come in?" He said. He felt the lock turn and she was standing behind the open door. "It is your house." She said.

"It's your house too Marissa" He said putting the pasta down on her desk. "Uncle Pacey I appreciate you agreeing to let me move in but this is not my house" She said sadly.

"Yes it is kiddo and it's going to be your home for as long as you want it to be. I mean you gotta get sick of me sometime right?" He said joking sitting next to her on the bed. She laughed. "How do you do that?" She said. "Do what?" He said.

"Make me feel better" She said. "Well it's a challenge but I've had a lot of practice" He said. She smiled. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you it's not your fault" She said looking at him.

"Hey I can handle you. After all we do come from the same Witter mold" He said. Except that I'm a Cooper" She said reminding him. "That's just a technicality" He said. She laughed. "Anyways I had to come in and bring you your dinner because what else where you going to eat your pencils?" He said.

"I am hungry." She pointed out. "So go eat. I have to get back to the restaurant and help close up you going to be okay?" He said. "Yeah I'll be fine" She said blinking. "Alright well if you need me I got my cell but if you can't reach me there's always Ryan" He said teasing her. "Shut up" She said joking and breaking out into a smile. " See ya later Maris" He said leaving.

At lunch the next day she sat outside at one of the picnic benches. She sat reading. "The scarlet letter no doubt a bore" Ryan said sitting down. "You again." She said looking up from her book. "You seem surprised to see me" He said.

"Well I'm not" She said not giving him the satisifaction. "So how do you like Harbor so far Marissa?" He said. She looked up at him. "Okay how do you know my name?" She said determined to find out. "That's really bothering you isn't it?" He said.

"No" She said irritated. He smiled with a laugh. "You know Seth Cohen?" He said finally deciding to tell her. "Yeah we met briefly" She said. "Well I'm living with the Cohen's and I heard Seth mention seriously like a thousand times that he had to pair up with a new student" He said.

"So what are you like related to the Cohen's?" She said. "No there just my legal guardians" He said. "Oh" She said. "So what about you? Do you live here with your parents?" He said. "No I moved in with my Uncle" She said. "Well that sounds like fun" He said.

"Well Uncle Pacey is all about the fun. In fact you might know him he opened up a bistro blue fish it's by the pier" She said suddenly wanting to talk to him. "Oh yeah the Cohen's go there sometimes. It's a nice place" He said nodding. She smiled.

"There you are sorry I'm late. Oh hey Marissa! Ryan so I see you met Marissa already?" Seth said sitting down. "Yeah we talked" Ryan said looking at Marissa. She smiled.

"Well we gotta comic book meeting to get to" Seth said. "Seth" Ryan reprimanded him because he didn't want her to know he was in a comic book club. Talk about being a geek.

"Come on we got important things to discuss Atwood." Seth said. She laughed nervously. "It's okay I gotta go anyway. See ya later" She said looking at them getting up and leaving with her books in her hand.

Ryan watched her walk away. "Ryan come on serious matters to discuss" Seth said. "Oh really well first thing on the list is to kill you" He said joking walking with him. Humor not a trait you're supposed to have" Seth said.

Marissa nice seeing you again." Seth said Ryan following behind. "What's going on Cohen?" Marissa said starting to walk home from school. "See now that's how you treat a person. Nothing much how about if I walk with you home?" He said.

"Seth its fine you can walk with me" Marissa said. "Thanks Marissa" He said. She smiled. "Your welcome" She said. "So what do you think of the bio assignment?" Seth said. She smiled politely and looked towards Ryan for help.

"Seth she's just getting settled I'm sure the bio project is farthest from her mind" Ryan said trying to get Seth to understand. "Yeah I've had so many things to do and that's just adding another to them" She said.

"So since it's Friday and all why don't you come hang with us" Seth said. She laughed. "I don't know I promised my Uncle I'd work today" She said. "Well no pressure you can come any time the Cohen house is open" Seth said.

"Thanks Cohen" She said. "No problem now if you excuse me I gotta get the car and hit the comic store" He said leaving Ryan behind. "So Seth is a little..." She said not quite finding the words to describe him.

"Yeah he's a bit strange but he's a good guy" He said with a smile. "And what about you Ryan Atwood what kind of guy are you?" She said. "If you really want to know then come hang out tonight. Maybe I'll see you later" He said.

"Yeah maybe" She said. "Oh and Marissa welcome to New Port" He said. They both smiled at each other. Marissa pushed her hair back with her hands and started up her porch steps.

Later she was almost done with her shift at blue fish. She saw her uncle coming towards her. "Well Marissa I would say you've had a great first day. And you know what's so great about your first day?" He said.

She smiled. "What?" She said. "You get out of cleanup so as soon as you give that couple there bill your gone you got me?" He said. "And just what am I supposed to do with the rest of my night?" She said.

"Well I'm sure you can figure it out" He said. "Just so you know I might go to Seth's they wanted me to hang with them." She said. "That's fine. Them?" He said. "Seth and Ryan" She said. Oh Ryan huh?" He said. "Yeah" She said. "Ok have a good time and be home by twelve" He said.

"Thanks Uncle Pacey" She said. "Hey I was a kid once too" He said walking away. A few minutes later she gave the couple their bill and she got out of there. She walked out into the fresh air and pulled her hair into a ponytail and headed home.

When she reached home she changed out of her uniform and hurried to the Cohen's.

**In the next chapter: Marissa gets to know more about Ryan and his life before the Cohen's.**


	4. Seeing your past in someone

** Thanks for the reviews and I was actually hoping to have this posted already but it's been a confusing and hectic week so to make up for it I should be posting at least three posts. So I hope you enjoy what you're reading. And once again comments are always welcome and appreciated.**

**Seeing your past in someone**

The Cohen's lived in the gated community not far from her. Taking a look at their house it was obvious they had money. Not that her Uncle didn't have money but from the looks of the house The Cohen's had more. She walked to the front door and knocked praying that Seth, or Ryan answered the door.

As she was thinking about this the door opened and to her relief it was Seth. "Hey Marissa" He said. "Seth" She said. "Come on in" He said. She walked in. "I hope its okay coming here at this time" She said walking down the hall with him.

"It's totally fine we were just hanging out" He said "Seth I'm..." She stopped talking. It was obviously his mom. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't know you had a friend over" Kirsten said. "That's okay mom this is Marissa, Marissa?..." He said.

"Cooper" Ryan said walking towards them. "Thank you Ryan" Seth said. "Well it's nice to meet you Marissa. I'm Kirsten Seth's mom" She said shaking her hand. "Hi, Mrs. Cohen you have a beautiful home" Marissa said with a smile.

"Thank you. Well you guys have fun I'm going to meet your dad for dinner. There's money for pizza. Bye guys" She said. "Bye" They said in unison. "So what do you guys want to do?" Seth said. "Play Station?" Ryan said looking at Marissa. "Sure" she said. "Great a girl who can appreciate video games" He said. "Seth" He said with a glare. "Yeah alright follow me" Seth said. And they listened.

She was there for a few hours playing games. "So are you all play stationed out?" Ryan said. She laughed. "Well obviously Seth is" She said looking at him passed out on the couch. "So where did you learn to play like that?" Ryan said. "Well my uncle's a fan. And when I was little I always looked forward to spending time with him and playing video games. It turns out he's still a fanatic." She said looking his way.

"Well it makes sense" He said. "I guess" She said suddenly getting quiet. "Well I should go curfews at twelve so" She said getting up. "Let me get my shoes and I'll walk you" he said. "Oh no you don't have to I'll be fine" She said. "Notice I'm not listening to you?" Ryan said grabbing his shoes and putting them on.

"Alright" She said. "Let's go. Seth go to bed" He said tapping him. And they left. They walked down the front steps. "You know you don't have to do this" She said. "Humor me alright" Ryan said. She smiled.

"Okay. So how'd you end up with the Cohen's?" She said. "It's a long story actually" he said. But she obviously wanted to hear it and he found himself surprisingly wanting to tell her. "Sandy was my lawyer and I got into some trouble. And by trouble I mean arrested" Ryan said often times he expected girls to flee as soon as he said this but she was different.

Instead of seeming scared and about to bolt when Ryan looked at her all he could see was a concerned expression. She looked at him nodding. "So how'd you get arrested?" she said. "Well I stole a car. Well actually my brother Trey stole the car but he took me with him. And as luck would have it we got caught. My brother went to prison and because I was a minor I went to Juvy" he said. "Wow" she said finding it hard to believe.

"So anyway Sandy got the charges reduced released me in my mother's care which didn't really work out" he said. "Why not?" she said. "Well my mom sort of kicked me out and I spent the weekend with the Cohen's and Sandy went to drive me back home the following Sunday and she was gone along with her boyfriend. All that was left was an empty apartment" he said.

"She just left you?" Marissa said shocked. "Yeah but I guess everything worked out for the best though and eventually Kirsten and Sandy took me in for good" he said. "They have to be great people just to take some one in that they don't even know" She said.

"Yeah Sandy and Kirsten are the most generous people I've ever met their like the parent's I never had" he said. She smiled understanding. "Yeah so this is me she said pointing to her house."Right" He said.

"So I guess I'll see you at school" she said. "Yeah sure or you know we could hang out maybe before then" He said hinting. "Aren't you getting sick of me?" She said. "That's not possible" He said. She blushed.

"Sure" She said laughing nervously. "Great maybe I'll stop by see what you're doing tomorrow" He said. "Okay. Thanks for walking me home Ryan" She said. "Bye Marissa" He said and he walked away.

She went in and shut the door. "Hey your home early" He said. "Yeah well they live like two blocks away" She said. "Wait this Seth and Ryan there not Cohen's are they?" He said. "Yeah, well Seth is not Ryan why?" She said.

"Sandy Cohen their dad is my lawyer and he's a good friend of mine" He said. "Really?" She said. "Yeah. Wow so that's who Ryan is. I met him he's a good kid" He said. "So you know he was in trouble?" She said.

"Sure but I don't judge but it's nice that he was honest with you about it" He said. "So if you know Ryan where's he from?" She said. "Sandy found him in Chino. He's definitely had a hard life that kid. I heard his mother was an alcoholic and her boyfriend was abusive to Ryan" He said.

"Oh" She said suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "So you guys are becoming friends that's good Marissa" He said. She grinned falsely. "Yeah I guess. Goodnight Uncle Pacey" She said going towards her room and closing the door.

Monday at school Marissa was putting books in her locker. Ryan spotted her and came up to her. "Hey" He said. She turned around. "Hi" Marissa said trying to keep her cool. "So I came by your house on Saturday but you weren't home" He said.

She pushed her locker closed and started walking with her books clutched under her arm. "I'm sorry I had to work last minute maybe some other time?" She said trying to blow him off.

"Marissa are you alright?" He said suddenly getting the feeling that something was up. "Yeah I'm fine I just have to get to class before Mr. Becker has my head. I'll see ya later" She said walking away from him.

That afternoon she was eating lunch in the quad by herself. Seth came up to her and sat down. "Hey Marissa" He said. "Seth" She said. "So we had fun Friday night huh?" Seth said. "Sure I had a blast" She said closing the top of her water bottle.

"Great so Ryan seems to think that something's going on with you" He said. She looked up wishing they could change the subject. "Did you know my Uncle knows your Dad?" She said. "No. Wow that's awesome" He said.

"Yeah I guess" She said. "So I take it you found out some stuff about Ryan" He said. "It's not that Seth and actually I found out a lot of it from Ryan. It's just me" She said trying to make him understand.

"You know he does seem to like you. And its true Ryan had a messed up life but that shouldn't define him" He said looking at her. "Look Seth it's not that and I get it and I'm not judging Ryan for what he's been through" she said.

"So what's the problem? He likes you, I assume you like him" Seth said waiting for an answer.

"The problem is I'm not ready for a Ryan and the complete mess that I am he's not ready for me" She said sadly getting up and walking away. "Marissa" Seth said feeling bad. She didn't listen she just kept on walking.


	5. The truth about her past

**The truth about her past**

Marissa was in History class when she received a note from the guidance counselor calling her to her office. She excused herself from class and went. She walked up to her office and knocked. "Come on in" She said. She opened the door.

Joey looked up "Hello Marissa" She said. "Ms. Potter you wanted to see me?" Marissa said. "Yes you can have a seat if you'd like" She said. She sat in the empty chair. "So Marissa you've been at Harbor for a few days. How's it going so far?" Joey said trying to make her feel comfortable.

"It's okay I guess." She said shrugging her shoulders. "Do you enjoy your classes?" She said. "Yeah there okay" Marissa said not really knowing why she would be called out of class to discuss how she was adjusting to Harbor.

"Marissa I wanted to talk to you about your transfer actually" She said. And there it was the one thing Marissa feared that everyone would know. "So you know" Marissa said sadly. "Yes I do. Do you want to talk about it?" She said concerned.

"What's there to say?" Marissa said looking down and closing off. "You can tell me how you feel? Maybe work from there" She suggested.

Marissa stayed silent. "Okay I won't push you. I just want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk and whatever you say to me is just between us okay?" She said. "Okay" Marissa said.

"So you can go now" She said. "Okay" Marissa said quickly leaving. Joey pushed her hair back. She hit the phone button. "Yeah make an appointment for me with Marissa Cooper's uncle. Yeah I really need to speak with him. Thanks" She said. An hour later the secretary got back to her and told her he would be available tomorrow.

The next morning Marissa was leaving for school. Pacey came walking in the kitchen. "Good morning Marissa you're up early" He said grabbing a cup of coffee. "Yeah I thought I'd get an early start to school this morning" She said zipping up her bag.

"You know I'm going that way I could give you a lift if you want?" He said. "That's okay I'd rather walk but thanks Uncle Pacey. See ya later!" She said walking out. He smiled.

A little while later Pacey was walking through the Halls of Harbor headed to the guidance office. Today being the big meeting with Marissa's counselor which he hadn't mentioned to Marissa he figured it was better of that way.

He found the office talked to the receptionist and she told him to wait in the office and the counselor would be right into see him. He smiled and thanked her. He waited for a few minutes until he heard the door click open.

"Hello you must be Marissa Cooper's uncle..." She said. He lost it after that he didn't even have to look at her to know it was Joey. "It's nice to meet you" She said turning around and getting the biggest shock of her life.

"Pacey? How'd you find me?" She said shocked that he was in her office. "I didn't apparently you found me" He said with a smile. She was trying to put two and two together. "Wait Marissa she's your niece?" She said.

"Yeah she's Julie's daughter" He said. "What are the odds?" She said with a smile. "It's strange really I haven't seen you since..." He said. "High School I know it's been a long time" She said. "Yeah it has" He said looking at her.

"Okay so not that it isn't great that your here but there is still Marissa we have to discuss" She said. "Right of course. Is she in trouble or something?" He said. "No it's nothing like that I was just concerned when child services contacted me about Marissa's situation" She said. He looked at her confused.

"What situation Joey?" He said unaware of what was going on. "You don't know?" She said. "Would I be asking you if I did?" He said sounding concerned.

"Well apparently Marissa was involved in a case involving her mother being abused by her husband which is Marissa's father. Marissa heard what was happening an according to police reports she was afraid he was going to kill her so called the cops on him. "She said.

"In the mean time all this was going on he was according to her statement choking Julie and she felt she had to do something so Marissa tried to go after him. Which only made Jimmy angry and made him lash on Marissa even more and eventually physically abusing her as well" She continued.

"According to Police Marissa claimed that he almost choked Julie to death and thankfully the police showed up in time to find Marissa a little knocked around but thank god stable" She saud.

"But unfortunately Julie didn't agree with her story when the cops showed. She told them that she was trouble and it was simple case of her father showing her who was running the house" she said.

"They both claim that Marissa was troubled and always made up stories for her amusement. So Marissa's claim didn't hold up" She said.

"Are you telling me that Jimmy hurt my niece? I mean couldn't they tell from her school records that she was a good kid?" He said suddenly feeling all sorts of emotions but mostly anger that Jimmy could do that to Marissa.

"They looked into that but Marissa had a lot of absences and her grades where good but just average really" she said with a shrug of shoulders.

"My guess the absences were so she didn't have to deal with people asking questions and I think that night she just got fed up and couldn't take it anymore. I'm sorry Pace I didn't think you didn't know about it" She said.

"Well I didn't but you know what he's going to hear from me" He said getting up. "Pacey don't I told you so you could try to talk to Marissa. Look this is obviously affecting her and something needs to be done she won't talk to me so I thought she would talk to you" She said stopping him.

"See that's the thing she won't talk to me about it. I mean I knew something was up when Julie asked if Marissa could stay with me for awhile but neither of them have told me why. Julie just sort of brushed it off as Marissa needing to start over some place new. I've tried to talk to her but she just won't" He said.

"Well do you know someone she will? Because she can't go on like this forever" She said. "No but I can try again?" He said. "Good if anybody could get anything from someone its you" She said.

"Yeah I should go get to work" He said. "Right well thank you for listening" She said. "Well thank you for caring" He said. She smiled and he hugged her.

"Maybe I'll see you around preferably not in another ten years" He said with a smile. "I hear you own the blue fish" She said. "I do indeed" He said.

"Good for you pace. I'll have to come down sometime" She said. "Yeah we can catch up" He said.

"It's good to see you Pacey" She said. "Yeah same here" He said walking out. She smiled thinking about him.

What a small world she thought...


	6. Meeting Summer

**Meeting Summer**

Marissa walked through the halls at the end of the day. She heard somebody coming behind her. "Hi" She heard her say. She turned around. "Hey" Marissa said. "So like your new here and everything right?" She said.

"Yeah I am" Marissa said. My name's Summer Roberts" She said. "Marissa Cooper" She said. "Cool but if you don't mind I think I'll call you Coop" She said with a smile. Marissa laughed, "Well only if I can call you Sum" she said with a laugh.

"Sure. So are you going somewhere?" She said. "I was going to go home drop my stuff off. Do you want to come over?" Marissa said. "That would be awesome. Let me just go grab my books I'll meet you in the quad Coop" She said.

"Okay Summer" She said. She looked up and saw Ryan and Seth walking towards her. "Marissa do you know who you where just talking too?" Seth said. "I was talking to Summer" She said closing her locker.

"She was talking to Summer" Seth said to Ryan. Marissa looked at him strangely. "She won't even give me the time of day but she talks to Marissa" He said walking away. "Okay I thought Seth was at first just a little out there. Now he's just freaking me out. What's his deal?" She said walking with Ryan.

"He's into Summer. He has been since way before I got here" He said. "Are you serious?" She said. "Yeah it's been like this since he first laid eyes on her or so he says" Ryan said. "And they don't talk?" She said. "Summer doesn't really hang with Seth's circle?" He said.

"And who does that consist of?" She said. "Well me and Captain Oats which sounds weird but nobody seems to understand him" Ryan said. "But you can?" Marissa said. "He's a little neurotic but he's a good friend." He said.

"Well maybe I can introduce them. You know when I actually get to know her?" She said. "Seth would love you" Ryan said. She laughed. "Well if it's for Seth then I'll do it I kind of feel bad for him. He must really like her" She said.

"Must really like who Coop" Summer said. "Comic books Ryan was just telling me that he likes Comic books" She said. Ryan looked mortified and glared at Marissa. She shrugged silently apologizing for the lame excuse.

"So are we going?" She said. "Yeah just a second Summer this is Ryan" She said. "The kid from Chino I know" She said with a smile. "Hi. Well I'm going to go find Seth I'll see you later" Ryan said walking away. "Bye Ryan" Marissa said.

They started walking home. "So you're into Chino?" Summer said. "It's not like that and anyway we just met. We barely know each other" She said. "He is hot Coop" She pointed out. "Summer can I ask you something?" She said.

"Shoot" Summer said. "Why are you so eager to befriend me?" She said. "Well because the girls around here suck and I noticed you the other day. So I asked around and found out that you were a transfer student so I thought why not try being friends with you" She said.

"That's it you didn't know if I was crazy? Or if I was strange? You just walked up to me with basic facts about me?" Marissa said. "Yes Marissa" She said. "Okay now you're starting to sound a little crazy Summer" She said with a laugh.

Summer laughed along with her. "What can I say Coop I like taking chances" Summer said. Marissa laughed.

A little while later they reached Marissa's. They walked in the front door. "So this is your place it's cute" Summer said. "Well it's no mansion but I like it all the same" Marissa said dropping her bag down. "So do I get to see your room?" Summer said.

"Well actually it's just a guest room for now anyways. I live with my Uncle Pacey he owns the restaurant Blue fish" She said. "By the pier oh that place is totally amazing. Everybody goes there." She said. "Yeah well that's the place" She said.

"So what's the deal with Atwood? Is he like into you?" He said. "No, of course not we're just….." Marissa said. Summer laughed. "Complicated I get it" Summer said. Marissa laughed.

"Gee thanks!" She said. "You are so going to love New Port!" Summer said. "Yeah it seems the possibilities are endless here" She said with a smile. "Well they are. You'll fit in just fine" Summer said.

"Well I'm glad somebody thinks so. I'm going to order some pizza before Pacey gets home" She said. "Okay Coop" She said. "I'm just gonna grab the phone" She said walking out of the room.

Summer was sitting at the kitchen counter when she heard keys in the door. A man walked in shut the door and looked up at her. "Hi you must be one of Marissa's friends." He said. "Hi Mr. Witter it's actually Summer Roberts" She said.

"Oh nice to meet you Summer" He said. "Coop is ordering pizza. She should be back in a second" Summer said. Pacey looked at her strangely. "Okay well…" she said stopping. "Hey Uncle Pacey" Marissa said smiling noticing he was home.

Pacey knew the talk would just have to wait. "Hey Marissa so I met your friend Summer here." He said. She smiled. "It looks like your fitting in quite well kiddo" He said. "I just ordered pizza if your hungry" She said.

"No thanks. Actually I have somewhere to go tonight so I'm just gonna go now. Summer it was a pleasure meeting you and your always welcome. Marissa I'll see you later tonight" He said. "Okay Bye" Marissa said. "Bye Mr. Witter." Summer said.

With that Pacey walked out the door. Summer turned and looked at Marissa. "Okay Coop your uncle is hot" She said. "Ew Summer" She said. "What?" She said. "He's my uncle" She said.

"Alright whatever Marissa. So anyway There's this party on Friday its totally "New Port Beach" and my dad's making me go. So I thought maybe you'd might want to come with?" She said.

"So another words what you mean by the party being so "New Port Beach" is that it's basically a party thrown by the wealthy living in Orange County" Marissa said. "That's exactly what I'm saying" She said. "I don't know" Marissa said said.

"What come on please come with me" Summer said. "I just don't know if I'd exactly fit in" She said. "Whatever Marissa you would so totally fit. And your uncle has been to them before. He does own a rather successful business and some of these people are his friends" Summer said.

"Oh really like who?" She said. "Well like the Cohen's for one" She said. "Seth's parents? There going to be there?" Marissa said. "Of course so you know what that means?" Summer said.

"That if they're going Ryan is too" She said. "Exactly so will you please go with me. We can totally bail if you feel weird" She said. She looked at Summer.

"So what does one wear to an event like this?" Marissa said with a smile. "Well we just have to go shopping?" Summer said. "I can't wait" Marissa said.


	7. Getting ready for the party

**Okay so I managed to get four posts up today so that should tide you guys over until my next post which is already written and should be up as quickly as possiably. Reviews always welcome.**

**Getting ready for the party**

A few days went by Summer had helped her pick out something that would be appropriate party wear for the event. Friday was upon her and she was just leaving school so she could go home and get ready for tonight. She turned a corner in the hallway and ran into Seth.

"Hey Cohen" She said. "Marissa what's up?" He said. "Nothing much just heading home" She said. "Really so where's Summer?" He said. "She went home to get ready for a party or banquet or what ever you guys refer to it as" She said. "Oh so she's going too. Alright well this is just awesome. Well then you gotta come too so you can set up in intro" He said.

"Well thanks for the invite but I actually will be there tonight. Summer asked me to come along" She said. "She did so you guys are like friends now?" He said. "Yes we are Seth. So go home don't freak out because tonight you are going to talk to summer" She said with a smile.

"Do you know how much I love you right now?" He said. She laughed. "No but I can imagine. So just be cool alright" She said. "Seth Cohen is always cool. See ya tonight" He said and he hugged her. "Oh." She said with a laugh.

"Thanks Marissa" He said walking away. "He is so not going to be cool" She said out loud. "Yeah but that's Seth" Ryan said behind her. She turned around. "Hey Ryan" She said. "Hey" He said with a smile carrying his backpack.

They started walking together. "So what was that about? He said. "I told Seth that I'm going to introduce him to Summer at the party tonight" She said. "You're going to be at the party?" He said.

"Yeah Summer practically begged me and I thought that maybe it might not be so bad. What?" She said referring to the expression on his face. "Nothing" He said. "What's with that face?" She said. He laughed.

"It is bad see I knew it. I'm just not going to go then" She said. "No. Now wait a minute the parties aren't bad. There just pretty much boring where you have to sit around snobs who pretty much think that there better then everyone else" He said.

"Wouldn't the Cohen's be considered those kinds of people?" She said. "No Kirsten and Sandy are not like that at all. But besides us getting bored me and Seth usually just hang out and mock people so you should come" He said.

"So I can sit around and mock people" She said with a smile. He smiled back. "Yeah something like that" He said. "Well I can't back out on Summer and this is really important to Seth so I'll go" She said.

"Okay so maybe if you come we can all just hang out" He said. "Yeah maybe we will" She said with a smile. "Well I gotta go meet Summer. So I guess I'll see you tonight" She said.

"Yeah definitely tonight" He said. "Okay Bye Ryan" She said walking away. "Bye Marissa" He said.

Later that night Pacey came home and walked in the door. "Marissa I'm home" He said. He walked towards the Kitchen. "Hey" She said. "Hey Kiddo" He said then he stopped and looked at her. He smiled.

She was wearing a long black dress and her hair was pin straight. "What? Does it look bad?" She said referring to what she was wearing. "No you look beautiful. You got plans tonight?" He said.

"Thank you. Yeah Summer wanted me to go to some New Port Party with her" She said. "A New Port party Huh?" He said. "Yeah I know it's so not my scene but I just thought maybe it's about time I started making friends." She said.

"Hey for the record I don't think its none of those kids scenes rich or not. They would rather be listening to rap and drinking from a keg then be in the company of their parents" He said. "I guess your right" She said with a laugh.

"As a matter a fact I'm attending the party" He said. "You are? So what is it for anyway?" She said. "Oh its' a party being held by the New Port group their kicking off a new campaign" He said.

"New Port Group? Where have I heard that before?" She said trying to figure it out. "Well Caleb Nichol is the head of the company he's also Seth Cohen's Grandfather. As a matter of fact Kirsten also works for the company" He said.

"So this party is being thrown by the Cohen's?" She said. "Well either them or Caleb but since it's in the yacht club my bet is on Caleb because if Kirsten was throwing the thing it would be at there house" He said.

"Oh" She said. "So I guess you'll see Ryan there too" He said. "Yeah well he already told me he was going actually" She said. "So you guys becoming friends?" He said. "I guess we are" She said with a smile thinking about it.

Pacey smiled "That's good Marissa" He said. She heard a horn honk. "Yeah well that's Summer she's going to give me a ride there" She said. "Okay I'll see you" He said. "See you at the party" She said.

He thought about what Joey said. "Hey Marissa" He said. She stopped and turned towards him. "Yeah?" She said. "Have fun" He said. She laughed. "I'll try" She said leaving.

He should have talked to her but she was making friends and this wasn't the time to discuss this. He thought about how happy she looked and voted against talking to her at least for now.

**In the next chapter: Expect to see all the kids at the New Port Party in the next update.**


	8. Just another New Port Party

**A/N : Thanks for those of you who have already reviewed the story. I really appreciate. To those of you who are reading and not reviewing well please review so I know whether to continue with this or not. Thanks you guys!**

**Just Another New Port Party**

They both got out of the car and summer handed the keys to the valet. "You know where I come from there's no such thing as valet parking" She said joking. "How did you survive?" Summer said grabbing her arm.

"I don't know" She said with a smile. They walked into the ballroom. Marissa looked around. "So what do you think?" Summer said. "I think this is so New Port" She said. "Good point. Come on" Summer said smiling. "Summer Hi" Holly said.

"Hi Holly" She said. "So who's this?" She said staring at Marissa. "I'm Marissa Cooper" she said putting her hand out. She didn't take it. "Nice to see you Summer" She said walking away. "She is such a bitch" Summer said talking to Marissa.

Marissalooked down. "I'm sorry Marissa" She said sadly. "It's okay I just think I'm going to go outside and get some air. I'll be back" Marissa said walking away from Summer. Summer watched her go.

A little while later Marissa came back to the party. She bumped into Holly by the bar. "So I hear you're from Austin? You know it's got to be nice to make rich friends like Summer. Especially seeing that your aren't" She said.

Seth saw this and went towards them. She looked at Holly speechless. "Hey Holly why don't you back off all right" Seth said coming from behind Marissa. "Oh so you made friends with Caleb Nichol's grandson. Oh you're so not in it for money." Holly said.

"You know it's funny all these years in school together and I didn't even think you knew I existed" he said sarcastically. "Well the only thing you got going for you is your families money. Other then that your pretty much worthless" Holly said to Seth.

Marissa got angry not only was Holly trying to start with her she was now trying to insult Seth and She just couldn't take it anymore. " Hey that's enough if you have a problem with me direct it at me. Don't rag on Seth I mean what did he ever do to you?" She said. "It's alright Marissa. I'm used to it" Seth said.

"No it's not Seth. Look I have no idea who you are. And I'm definitely not looking for trouble so I'm gonna go" Marissa said trying to step her around her. Holly stopped her with a laugh. "Oh we're you going Princess? Our conversation hasn't even begun" Holly said.

Marissa looked at her speechless. Summer looked on and came towards her knowing that Holly talking to Marissa could only lead to trouble. "Holly leave Marissa the hell alone" She said yelling at her. "Summer your rep is going to go down for being her friend" Holly said.

"She's already a better friend then you are" Summer said starting to get angry. "Right sure" Holly said. "Walk away Holly" Seth warned her. "We're not done." She said looking at Marissa and then she walked away. "There just empty threats" Seth said looking at Marissa.

"Yeah thanks you guys" Marissa said quietly. "No problem. Coop stay away from her. Holly is like a super bitch" Summer said. "I can see that" she said. She noticed that this was as good a time as any to introduce Seth to Summer.

"So Summer this is Seth Cohen" Marissa said. She looked at Seth. "I know hi Cohen" She said. "Hello Summer" He said amazed that she had actually spoke to him. "Hey guys" Ryan said joining them. "Hey" Marissa said. Seth turned to Summer and said

"This is Ryan" He said. "We've met" Summer said. Ryan nodded. "You just missed a nasty Holly" Seth said to Ryan. "What else is new?" He said not being phased at all.

"Coop I'm going to go get a drink. You want anything?" Summer said. "No I'm okay thanks" Marissa said. "Come on Cohen you can come with" She said talking him with her walking over to the bar.

Ryan stood next to Marissa and things we're quiet. He looked over at the bar and noticed Seth and Summer talking. "Well it looks like its working" He said pointing to them.

Marissa looked at them and smiled. "Well at least Seth's happy. Right?" She said sadly. Ryan thought about what she said. "I'm gonna get some air. Excuse me" She said walking away. Something was up and he was going to find out what it was.

"Hey where did Marissa and Ryan go?" Summer said. "I don't know maybe they went for a walk" Seth said. "Well at least somebody's happy right?" Summer said.

Seth smiled. "Yeah" he said. "Hey weren't we in the same third grade class?" She said. "Well actually it was 6th grade" He said. "Right" She said.

"So fun party huh?" He said. "Not really it's kind of lame actually" She said. "Sure" He said not knowing what else to say.

Ryan walked outside and looked around for Marissa. He spotted her at the end of the balcony. He walked up to her. "Are you okay?" He said staring at her. "Sure. I mean I knew how they were going to treat me when I got here" She said.

"Marissa" He said. "I knew it was going to happen." She said looking down. "Who cares what they think" He said. "I don't belong Ryan" She said.

"Says who Holly and a bunch of snobs? Come on Marissa who cares what they think. You've made friends you know your tight with Summer, and after tonight you pretty much have Seth as your friend for life" He said with a smile. She laughed.

"Then of course there's you" She said looking at him. He looked at her and smiled. "Right. So let's go find Seth and Summer." He said.

"They are probably looking for us" She said. "Or Seth has ran out of stupid things to say which isn't possible" He said. "Well we should probably rescue him then" She said. "Come on" He said and they walked in together.

Summer spotted them. "Thank god you guys this party totally blows no offense Cohen. I know it's like your grandpa's party and everything" she said. "None taken Summer" He said.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Marissa said. "How about the diner down by the pier?" Seth said. "Alright man. Marissa? Summer? You in?" Ryan said.

"Sure why not?" they said. "Alright lets go" Seth said. "I'll drive" Summer said. "Alright" Ryan said. They left the party.

Later on they were walking down the pier. "I gotta say it's really nice here" Marissa said. "Yeah you get used to New Port after awhile" Seth said. "Right I mean it is the most fashionable county like ever" Summer said.

Ryan laughed. "It actually is" Marissa said with a laugh. Seth smiled. "This was fun you guys we should do it again some time" Marissa said. Ryan looked at her.

"Yeah definitely" he said. "Cohen I'm gonna go get some ice cream so come on" Summer said. "I don't want Ice cream" He said. She pinched him. "Ow okay I'll go. We'll be back" He said with that they left.

Ryan and Marissa were left alone. "So you survived your first New Port party" He said. "Yeah I guess I did. How many more of them left to go?" She said joking. He laughed.

"I don't know I mean I've went to so many of these things that I lost count" He said. "Can I ask you something?" She said. He nodded.

"Does it feel strange after all this time away from Chino?" She said. "Well it's been awhile so I guess it does. I guess in away after living here for so long New Port became my home and Chino just isn't anymore," He said.

"You don't miss it?" She said. "Sometimes but in all honesty if I was there today I can't say that I would not have been getting into trouble. I mean when I left I had just gotten arrested for going along with Trey's scheme. I don't ever want to do it again" He said.

She looked at him understanding that Ryan had wanted to put his past behind him and start new. "Yeah well you most love living with the Cohen's? You even got Seth out of the deal" She said.

"I did which is why I know that New Port is my home now. You'll see you'll get used it and pretty soon it'll be your home too" He said. "I hope so" She said.

"It'll happen before you know it" He said looking up at the night sky. She looked at him. "Thanks Ryan" She said leaning into him.

"It's what I'm here for" He said. She smiled. "I wonder if Seth is talking her to death yet?" She said. "If I know Seth he is." He said.

They both laughed.


	9. A talk between friends

**A talk between friends**

A week had flown by and she pretty much had hung out with Summer that she barely even saw Ryan or Seth.

So that Friday at school Marissa grabbed her books from her locker and closed it. "Hello Marissa my new best friend. May I just say again thank you" He said. She laughed.

"Seth you don't have to keep thanking me alright." She said. "Alright" He said. "So did you have fun?" Marissa said.

"Marissa it's something I've been dreaming about of course it was fun" Seth said. "Hey don't get snippy Cohen I can take her away just like that" She said obviously joking.

"You wouldn't Right?" He said. "I'm kidding Seth it was joke" She said.

"You're funny" He said. "That's what I live for?" She said. "So you and Ryan. Did you guys have fun?" He said. She looked at him.

"Well did you ask Ryan if he had fun?" She said. "Do you know who we're talking about here? This is Ryan Atwood he doesn't speak of fun" He said.

"Seth" She said. "What? It's the truth" He said. She smiled. "So did you have fun with Ryan?" Seth said.

"Why does this seem like I'm going to tell you my answer and your going to report back to Ryan? He didn't send you here did he?" She said.

"No of course not. I just thought I'd help a brother out" He said not sounding convincing. "I knew it he did send you over here" She said walking away from him.

"Wait Marissa he so did not ask me to come over here." He said. "Bye Seth" She said leaving him alone. "Damn Ryan's gonna kill me?" Seth said to himself.

She was on her way home when she saw Ryan passing the quad. She hurried to catch up. "Hey" She said coming up behind him.

"Marissa Hey" He said. "So the other night I had fun" She said. "Yeah me too" He said. "Just thought you'd rather here it from me than say Seth" She said looking at him.

He laughed. "Next time you want to ask me something just ask me okay? We don't need to play this back and forth game" She said.

"Okay" He said. "Alright" She said. "So do you want to do something later?" He said. "Well I have to work until six so I can meet you at 6:30. Is that okay?" She said.

"Yeah 6:30 is fine" He said. "Okay well then I'll see you later I gotta get to work" She said. "Yeah see you later" He said. She walked off.

That night Pacey was working at the restaurant. He was in his office working on the books when Frank an employee of his peeked in.

"Hey Pacey" He said. "Yeah." He said. "There's a lady out here looking for you" he said. He thought about it. "Did she give a name?" He said.

"Yeah it's something Potter. Sound familiar?" Pacey got up and met him at the door. "It's Joey Potter and yes I do know her. She's a friend from High School" Pacey said.

"Well she's waiting at the bar for you" He said. "Thanks Frank" Pacey said. "No problem boss" He said.

Pacey came out to the front and spotted her on a stool. He stopped and stared at her for a minute. It seemed time didn't change a thing in his eyes. She was still the most beautiful girl in the room except now she was a women.

She turned and noticed him and waved him over with a smile. He smiled and walked over. "Hey Jo" He said. "So I just thought I'd come see the place for myself. I hope that's okay" Joey said. "Of course it's okay" He said with a smile.

"Good" She said. "Actually do you want to sit in the back there's an empty both? Have you eaten? We could have dinner if you want?" He said. "That sounds great" She said getting up and following him.

She sat down and Pacey put in their orders and came back to her. "So" He said. "So" She said. They were both at a loss for words.

"This is ridiculous I used to talk to you everyday and now I can't even think of what to say to you" He said. "It's okay because as great as it is to see you I'm nervous too" She said with a smile.

He smiled back. She decided to break the tension. "So aren't you going to ask me why I left?" She said staring straight into his eyes. He looked up at her.

"Well to be honest I've thought about it and I guess I came to the conclusion that it was just something you needed to do for yourself. There's nothing wrong with that." He said.

"No, but even still I didn't need to leave you all behind like that" She said. "Yeah but Joey you see you didn't leave us behind. You know Dawson went to film school and right after you had gone I didn't see any reason for me to come back so I got another job and I never came back except to visit which was rare" He said.

"I heard from Bessie" She said. "It's not like you didn't care about us. You just needed this for yourself sometimes it's good to distance yourself from people. Ultimately it's how you find who you really are" He said.

She looked at him. "Then why do I still feel as lost as ever?" She said trying to figure it out.

"Come on Joey you are not lost. You're here in New Port you work at a private School as a counselor. That doesn't seem like a lost person to me" He said.

"I guess in a way I never really felt whole ever since I left Capeside" She said. "Well the only way to feel whole again is by picking up the phone and talking to them" He said.

"I've thought about it but every time that I have I talk myself out of it. I convince myself that I won't belong in their world anymore" She said.

"Well for the record you'll always be apart of my world. Whether we talk for the next twenty years or we don't see each other again for another twenty. It's not that easy to let go of old friends" He said.

"I haven't let any of you go. I find out here and there what everybody's doing, how they are that sort of thing but you remained somewhat of a mystery" She said.

He laughed. "That would be because I don't really talk to anyone besides Doug and those few times I've spoken to Julie about me taking Marissa to live here but other then that I haven't spoken to any one" He said.

"Not even Gretchen?" She said. "No, not really She's doing okay. She's married has a son so she's doing all right though" He said. "Did you talk to Marissa?" Joey said.

"No she actually went to some big swanky party the other day with Summer a new friend from school and I just didn't think it was the time." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well as long as she's happy and she's making friends than there's nothing to worry about. You know I noticed she's been hanging out with Ryan Atwood" She said.

"Ryan the kid who's living with the Cohen's right yeah they're becoming close." He laughed. "It's funny really because it sort of reminds me of She interrupted. "Us" She said. "Exactly" He said.

"Well she's in for one hell of a ride" She said. He laughed. Marissa walked out of the back and noticed her Uncle with Ms. Potter she was suddenly worried that she came to talk to him about her.

She tried turning around fast but was not quick enough. "Marissa" He said. "Damn" She mouthed under her breath. She walked over to them.

She smiled. "Hi Ms. Potter" She said nervously. Joey could tell she was uncomfortable. "Hi Marissa. I just ran into your Uncle here. We actually know each other from High School" She said.

Pacey look puzzled at what she said about just running into him now but then he shook it off thinking she probably didn't want Marissa to know they had talked concerning her.

"Wait you grew up in Capeside?" Marissa said suddenly very interested. "Yeah we've known each other since we were little kids" He said. "Wait your Joey?" Marissa said.

Joey laughed. "Yea that would be me" Joey said. "Wow so you like went out with my Uncle when you were my age" Marissa said. He smiled. "Yeah we did" She said. "Small world" Marissa said.

"Yeah" She said. "So you know Dawson too then" She said. "You met Dawson?" Joey Said.

"Sure I used to spend x-mas with Gram and Pop" She said. He looked at her. "My parent's" He said filling her in. "Right. How are they?" She said.

Marissa looked at Pacey "There good Pop's still a pain in the ass but you know there okay" He said "So any way it's six thirty and your off for the night so get out of here" He said talking to Marissa.

She laughed. "Okay but I'm gonna go out for awhile" She said. "Ryan again?" He said. She pulled her apron off.

"Yes but Seth will be there too. We're just hanging out." She said. "Okay home by twelve" He said.

"Okay. See you later. Ms. Potter I guess I'll see you in school" She said. "Take care Marissa" She said.

Marissa walked away from them. "It's nice to see her smile again" He said thinking about Marissa.

"Maybe Ryan's just what she needs to get through this" Joey said. "I hope so" He said.


	10. Confiding in someone you trust

**Confiding in someone you trust**

Marissa walked down the block. She reached the gate and went in walking to the front door. She waited for a second before raising her arm and knocking.

Kirsten answered. "Marissa Hi" She said. "Hi Mrs. Cohen is Ryan home?" She said. "Yeah he's in the pool house I think why don't you go and check" She said inviting her in.

"Thanks" She said walking towards the kitchen and out the back door. She walked across the pool and saw from the window that Ryan was there. She walked in.

"Hi" She said. "Hey" He said. "Kirsten let me in" She said. "Right" He said.

He got up and grabbed his jacket. "So where's Seth?" She said. "Oh he's at some comic event" He said. "Oh" She said. He smiled.

"You sound disappointed" He said. "No I just I guess I assumed when you asked me to hang out that he'd be here too that's all" She said.

"Is that a problem?" He said. "No not at all" She said with a smile. "You're sure?" He said. "Yeah it's totally fine" She said. "Alright let's go then" He said.

"So where exactly are we going?" She said following him outside. "I don't know I thought we'd hang out by the pier or something maybe take a walk on the beach." He said.

"Oh okay" She said. They got in the car.

An hour later they were walking on the beach. "So is New Port growing on you yet?" He said with his hands in his pocket. "I guess you can say that. You know it's definitely beautiful here." She said.

"Do you miss Austin?" He said. "Honestly? Not really, life there was pretty much chaotic and here it's more simple" She said.

"I don't think they do simple in New Port" He said joking. She playfully hit him. "You know what I mean" She said.

"Of course you can't imagine yourself going back there and fitting in" He said walking. "Do you think you would in Chino?" She said.

"I've actually been back to Chino and they all pretty much looked at me like a rich boy who drives a range rover. I guess I've changed" He said. She nodded.

"Is that a good thing?" She said. "Well you know my life's better here. And I can pretty much kick anybody's ass. I couldn't do that in Chino" He said. She laughed.

"That's nice to know" She said. He smiled. "But other than that I've learned that I belong in New Port" He said. She looked at him with a smile.

"I'm sure Seth thinks so too" She said. "Yeah because now he doesn't have to just listen to himself talk now I get to" He said. She laughed.

They made it towards the lifeguard stand. They walked up it and sat down. Ryan stayed quiet. Marissa however felt it was time to tell him why she was really here.

"It's actually not so much the fitting in part that concerns me" She said. He looked at her. She laughed nervously. "I watched him hit her plenty of times" She said opening up.

He looked at her confused. "My mother I mean he used to do it all of the time but that night it just got worse and I thought he was going to kill her" She said looking out at the water.

He looked at her hoping she would say more. Marissa took a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "So I had to stop it. I ran downstairs and I started yelling at him. Begging him to stop, pleading with him but he wouldn't" She said with tears in her eyes.

"You don't" He said she interrupted him.

"So he turned on me and started fighting with me and then he started swinging at me" she said.

"and I tried to fight him off but I couldn't he was just too strong. He pushed me to the floor and went back to my mother and he had his hands around her neck and I just couldn't stop him so I called the police" she continued.

"So they showed asked a bunch of questions. I told them what I knew but when they asked my mother to basically agree with my story well she didn't see my way" she continued.

"That's when she turned on me and told them that I was lying.

That I was always causing trouble for them and then she sent me here" She continued.

"She just turned her back on me just like that" She said turning to look at him.

He looked at her and he grabbed her hand. The tears were streaming down her face.

"I never told anyone about it" She said. "You can trust me" He said looking at her squarely in the eye

. "I know I can." She said. He wrapped his arm around her to comfort her and they stayed like that for a while just being quiet.

He walked her home. She didn't know what to say. Tonight she had just felt that she could talk to him so she had and it had actually helped to talk to him about it.

"So I hope your not going to be in trouble for being late" He said. "Oh I'm not late Uncle Pacey's pretty flexible when dispensing the rules" She said. "Oh" He said.

She looked down. "Anyway He doesn't know exactly what happened so" She said he interrupted. "I won't say a word." He said. She nodded.

"But you know you guys seem pretty close maybe its time that he did?" Ryan suggested. She nodded. "I can't right now. I didn't even expect to tell anyone" She said.

"So why me?" He said curious. "I don't know. I guess I felt like you would understand if not better than anyone" She said looking at him. He nodded understanding.

"If you ever want to talk I'm here" He said. She smiled. "Thanks" She said. He smiled. She looked up noticing that she was home.

"So thanks for everything tonight was….." She trailed off not knowing how to describe it. "Tonight was tonight" He said. She smiled. "Well put" She said being serious.

She kissed him on his cheek. "I'll see ya Ryan" She said. "Yeah" He said.

She walked up her front porch and went in and shut the door and leaned up against it smiling thinking about Ryan.

He was outside thinking about her with a smile and then he headed home.

At the same time Pacey had just driven Joey home. He pulled up in front of her apartment. "So it was nice talking and everything" She said. He smiled.

"Yeah it was" He said. "Thanks for the ride" She said going to get out. He grabbed her hand to stop her. "Wait a second Joey" He said. She turned and looked at him.

"Your not gonna run again are ya?" He said. She smiled. "No" She said.

"Good so now that I know you're here maybe we could do something again?" He said. She smiled. "Sure. I'd like that" She said.

"Alright" He said and he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'll call you" She said getting out of the car. He watched her walk in. "Hey you know its nice having you back again Potter" He said leaning out the window.

She turned and smiled. "Well it's nice to be back" she said. He raised his hand and waved at her. "Bye" She said walking in.

He hit the steering wheel and drove off thinking about her.

In the next chapter: More Ryan/ Marissa interaction.


	11. A nervous invite & the perfect setup

**Okay so I was going to have a really huge update with like four chapters but as luck would have it something was wrong with the server and I only had time to update this chapter. But be sure to check back tomorrow because there will be some major updating! And Reviewers do your thing. And if you aren't reading it's only getting better from here so you don't know what you're missing. Thanks to all my past reviewers and don't worry I am continuing with this story. So here it goes!**

**A nervous invite & the setup**

That Monday she was getting coffee in the lounge with Summer. "So what was it like hanging with Chino?" Summer said. "Summer I don't like him" She said sitting down. "Oh no" Summer said not believing her.

"No" Marissa said. "Look there's Ryan now" She said pointing at Ryan walking in the lounge and sitting down at a table. Marissa turned Red. "Summer stop it" Marissa said. "You totally like him Marissa. So why don't you just go for it?" She said with a smile.

"It's complicated okay. I gotta go" Marissa said getting up to leave. "Coop your coming over later right? The valley's on and I can't watch it alone" She insisted. "Sure Sum I'll see you later at your house" Marissa said leaving and she walked out of the lounge.

He looked up noticing her leave. He grabbed his stuff and went after her. Meanwhile Summer noticed it which brought a smile to her face.

Marissa was walking down the hall when she heard "Marissa" She turned around and smiled. "Ryan" She said tucking her hair behind her ear. "Hey" He said walking next to her.

"I just had a study break" She said. "Yeah me too" He said. "Right" Marissa said walking towards her locker and opened it. She grabbed her books that she needed for the next class. He leaned up against the next locker.

"So I was wondering if you were going to go the school dance on Friday" He said rather jumpy as if he was nervous. She turned and looked at him. "The Dance? I don't know I didn't really think about it" She said.

"So maybe you would want to go with me?" He said quickly looking for a reaction. She looked at him surprised. "Well I…" She said. "It's totally okay if you don't want to" He told her. She smiled and looked down. She shook her head.

"No um sure I'll go with you as friends" She said with out even thinking looking at him. So she missed Ryan's face fall in disappointment but he quickly hid his emotions. "Right? Of course as friends" He said putting on a fake smile feeling slightly let down.

It felt awkward. She nodded with a smile. "Okay so I'll pick you up at seven thirty" He said. "Okay that's fine" She said. "Alright" He said. The bell rang.

"Well that's my cue I gotta get to Bio but I'll see you later" He said. "Okay" She said. He walked away. She smiled thinking about how nervous he seemed and how stupid she sounded. As friends what was she thinking? She closed her locker and walked to her class.

That afternoon she went to find Summer. "Summer" She said. "Hey Coop what's going on?" She said. "Ryan asked me to the dance on Friday" She said. "Oh my god the dance we have to do like some major shopping" She said.

"What about the Valley?" Marissa said. "This is bigger then the valley. Marissa you're going to the dance. Come on we gotta get going" She said grabbing her hand and pulling her out the door.

So they we're shopping for awhile and Marissa had found a dress within her means and one that she liked. She was looking at a dress. "You know Sum this would be perfect for you" She said lifting it up to show her.

"I don't need a dress" Summer said. "Why not? Your going aren't you?" Marissa said. "I don't know Marissa" She said. "Come on you have to go" Marissa smiled thinking of something.

"And I have the perfect person for you to take" Marissa said with a smile. "Who?" She said. "Never mind that just try on this dress" She said. She took it. "Okay Coop. Whatever you say" Summer said going to try it on.

Later Summer had gone home with her dress and Marissa was on her way to the Cohen's. Kirsten let her in. She went towards the pool house looking for Ryan or Seth.

She went in and found Ryan. "Hey" He said. "Hello" She said. "What brings you by?" He said. "Actually Seth, is he around?" She said. "You came here to talk to Seth?" He said with a laugh sort of confused.

"Yes I did" She said. "He's upstairs. So what's this about anyway?" Ryan said. "Oh nothing I just found him a date to the dance on Friday. I'm gonna go tell him" She said going to leave. He thought about it. "Wait for me I gotta see this" He said following her out.

Seth was at his computer when Ryan and Marissa came in his room. "Hey man" Ryan said. "Ryan. Marissa?" He said. "Seth" She said. "What's up?" He said. "Well Seth do you want to go to the dance on Friday?" Marissa said.

"Look Marissa I know I'm irresistible but I can't do that to Ryan" Seth said spinning in his chair to face them. "Not with her genius" Ryan said smacking him in the head.

"Okay then in that case no there's only one person who I'd say yes to and she's not available so I'll She interrupted him "It's Summer Seth" Marissa said staring at him. He looked shocked.

Ryan laughed. "What time should I be ready?" Seth said. She laughed at his nervousness. "Just be at my house at seven thirty and Summer will be there" She said.

"Should I ask how you accomplished this?" Seth said. "Because I'm that good Cohen. Seven thirty Friday night my house got it?" She reminded Seth. "I'm so there." He said. "Good. So I'll see you guys later" She said leaving them.

Later that night Marissa was helping dry the dishes with her uncle. "So listen I was thinking Friday maybe we can go hang out see a movie or whatever" He said. "Well I can't Friday" She said.

"Ouch no time for uncle Pacey" He said joking. She laughed. "I'm sorry it's just there's a dance at Harbor and I'm going" She said looking at him. He looked shocked.

"I'm sorry what now?" He said. "You heard me?" She said putting a dish away in the cabinet. "Okay so who might this guy be that's taking you?" He said. "It won't make you like him any better if you knew who he was" She said.

"Come on I like Ryan I think he's a nice kid" He said. "Uncle Pacey you hardly know Ryan. And why do you assume its Ryan?" She said. He looked at her. "I don't know I just thought you know you guys have been hanging out a lot lately so I just figured" He said waiting to see if his assumption was right.

"Okay it's Ryan" She said giving in and telling him. He smiled. "Have a good time" He said. "Thank you and maybe we could do the movie thing another time" She said.

"No it's really okay I just figured we could talk or something but you're in High school and the dance awaits" He said turning towards the sink. She thought about what he said.

"It's not that I don't want to talk. There's just nothing to really talk about" She said lying knowing there was a lot of things she could talk about starting with her father. He turned and looked at her.

"I just, I want to know that your okay always that's my only motive" He said. "Well you don't have to worry so much" She said and kissed his cheek. He smiled. She changed the subject.

"So Ms. Potter you know if I didn't know any better I'd think you liked her" She said teasing him.

He laughed and pulled the dish cloth from her hand. "Home work awaits" He said.

"That's fine I'll let you go this time but next time you might not be so lucky. I'm gonna use the computer in the den" She said walking away.

He thought about her and he hoped she was gonna be alright he'd just have to have faith.

In the next update: The Harbor Dance.


	12. A nice night for dancing

A nice night for Dancing

Friday had come and Ryan was fixing his tie in the mirror. "Okay so how's the hair is it okay?" Seth said coming in the pool house. "It's fine Seth" He said.

"Seriously Ryan is it too Jewish?" He said. "Seth" He said giving him a glare. "Right talking to much I get it" He said. Ryan finished with his tie and went to get his jacket on the stool.

"So you and Marissa are actually hitting it off?" He said. Ryan gave him an obnoxious stare down. "Okay so you don't want to talk about it" Seth said.

"Seth it's just a dance which she made it obvious to me that we're going as friends" Ryan said. "Yeah it is just a dance but you're going with a girl who more importantly you're so into you can't tell me you're not nervous" Seth said.

"Well I can't say this talk helped me out" Ryan said sarcastically grabbing the keys. "Just admit it Ryan" He said. Ryan walked out in silence. "You can't ignore me forever" Seth said following him out to the car.

Summer knocked on Marissa's door. Marissa answered it. "Hey" Marissa said, "Marissa you look so beautiful" She said taking in her simple but yet elegant light pink dress that fell below her knees knees.

Summer was wearing a light violet shimmery dress that fit her personality to a tee. "Sum you look so amazing. See I knew that dress would look great on you" She said.

She came in and waited. Marissa had just been putting her heels on. "So Coop who's the guy that I get to go out with?" She said. "That's not important" Marissa said. "Yeah it is. I so do not want to be a third wheel to you and Atwood." Summer said looking at her.

"Don't worry Sum you won't be. Plus we're going as friends" She said. Summer thought about it. "Yeah right friends good one" Summer said with a laugh.

Marissa stared at her and she stopped laughing putting two and two together" Oh no you didn't Coop? Did you?" Summer said already knowing who she picked for her.

"Summer before you get mad he's a good guy and he was available" She said trying to reason with Summer. "That's because he talks to plastic horses" Summer said.

"Well see you have something in common you have princess sparkle and he has captain oats" Marissa said. "I'm sorry captain oats can't compare to princess sparkle." She said.

"You get what I'm saying Summer. Plus you've never seen captain oats" She said. "Oh so if you paired us up because we both like horses how'd you get Ryan? Are you both equally as interested in wife beaters ? Or does Ryan have a care bear of his own?" Summer said.

"Summer don't be mad just give him a chance for me please" She said. "Okay Coop." She said sighing. "Great" Marissa said with that the bell ring. "Well let's get this over with" Summer said sounding not enthused.

"Summer try please" She said grabbing her purse. "Yeah I promise come on" Summer said. Summer and Marissa opened the door. They all looked at each other awkwardly.

Summer walked past them. "Let's go Cohen" She said. "Right behind ya" Seth said following her to the car. Marissa closed the door.

"Hi" Ryan said. "Well it looks like tonight should be fun" Marissa said with a smile. "You've never been to a dance at Harbor" He said joking.

"Stop we should go before she kills him" Marissa said. Ryan laughed and followed her to the car. Ryan drove to the school. Marissa rode shot gun while Seth and Summer sat in the back of Ryan's black Range rover.

Before they knew it they were at school. They walked in the front door. "So what do you guys normally do at these dances?" Marissa said. Seth laughed.

"You'd have to ask Summer that question Marissa because Ryan and I don't really attend school functions unless we're made" Seth said. She looked at Ryan. "You're serious? So you've never been to a dance at your own high school?" Marissa said surprised.

"Chino that's so not true I saw you last year at the winter ball with Lori McCall" Summer said looking at Ryan. Marissa smiled. "Really who's Lori?" She said looking at Ryan.

Ryan looked away with a nervous laugh. "She was a nightmare right Ryan? Thank god she moved far far away from Orange County because she had a few bolts loose. I mean that girl was seriously" Seth got interrupted by all of them. "Seth" They said in unison.

"I think Marissa gets the point Cohen. Lori was a psycho so moving on" Summer said. "Right okay moving on so back to the topic of the dance what do we do? Do we dance? Do we get a drink? Summer interrupted Seth "Do we ever shut up?" Summer said yelling at him.

Ryan and Marissa looked at each other laughing. "She's really going to kill me for this isn't she?" Marissa said. "Yeah I think you'll have to hear about this one for along time" Ryan said.

"Or Seth could surprise us all" Marissa said trying to look at the bright side. Ryan nodded. "Yeah but it's not likely" He said.

Later on Seth followed Summer by the punch bowl. "So what would you like to do Summer?" Seth said. "What I would like is some peace and quiet" Summer said. He looked down. She felt bad she knew she came off too strong.

"Sorry Cohen. I just suffer from rage blackouts but since you asked maybe we can dance" She suggested. He looked at her. "Are you serious?" Seth said.

"Yeah I mean unless you don't want to? Or don't know how too?" She said with that he dragged her to the dance floor. Summer laughed at his quirkiness.

Ryan and Marissa were dancing while Marissa was dancing Ryan was trying his best not to injure himself. He stepped on Marissa toes for like the tenth time. "Sorry" He said. "It's okay. You don't have any experience with dancing do you?" She said with a laugh.

"No dancing wasn't big in Chino" He said nervously with a smile. "Right." She said. "What about Austin?" He said. "I took ballet and modern dance when I was little" She told him.

"Fortunately for you" He said. "Look it's not that hard. Just follow me I'll show you." She said stopping in the middle of the dance floor.

"Okay now you take my right hand and then you take your other hand and you place it on my back" She said. He did it nervously. "Okay now we just move to the counts one, two, three" She said repeating it as they made the steps.

Ryan smiled he went a full song without stepping on her feet. "You see it's not so bad" She said with a smile. "No I guess it isn't" He said smiling back at her.

Seth followed Summer toward the benches. "So what now?" He said looking at her. "Cohen can you not ask a question for like five minutes? Or is that two much for you to handle?" She said kidding.

"Look Summer I know your only here because Marissa forced you into coming. But I just wanted to thank you because I had a great time tonight. So now that I've said that you can go and be with a guy you really wanted to go to the dance with" He said looking down.

She looked at Seth sadly. She realized she wasn't being fair. After all Marissa had said that Cohen was a nice enough guy when you get to know him. And so far tonight he had proven that to her.

"Cohen what are you talking about? I said yes remember Marissa clearly set this up but she told me you wanted to go with me so I said yes" She said looking at him. Seth looked shocked. "She did? I mean you said yes?" He said shocked.

"Yeah I mean she told me how nice you are and I just thought why not" She said. "So you actually wanted to go tonight?" Seth said confused.

"Okay Cohen Coop said you were nice but she didn't mention you were slow. Do I really have to explain it to you again?" She said joking. He laughed.

"No I completely understand" He said. She smiled. "Good" She said. A slow song started playing. "So do you want to dance?" He said. "Sure" Summer said taking his hand.


	13. The unexpected visitor

The unexpected visitor

Meanwhile Pacey was working at the restaurant he was just closing when he heard the bells jingle. "Sorry where closed" He said. "Where's Marissa?" He heard a voice say.

He turned around surprised to see Jimmy standing there. "Jimmy you should go" He said. "Where's my daughter Pacey?" He said. "Look I suggest you leave her alone" He said.

"Or what are you gonna do?" He said. "You got some nerve you know that showing your face around here after what you did" Pacey said. "Marissa's a liar" He said.

"Well I don't think she's lying about this one. So do yourself a favor and go back to Austin and stay out of her life" Pacey said getting angry. "I'm not letting her stay here. What you think you're her father now? That you run the show? That you can do better?" Jimmy said coming closer to him yelling.

"Jimmy I'm not telling you again you leave Marissa the hell alone" He said darkly. "Oh Yeah or what?" Jimmy said. Pacey looked at him.

"Or if you like I can report this little incident and you may never get your daughter back" Joey said coming in. Pacey looked at her. "Who the hell are you?" Jimmy said.

"I'm someone who cares about Marissa and if you don't want to go to jail over this then I suggest you leave" Joey warned him. He looked at Pacey. "This isn't over" Jimmy said walking out.

Pacey gripped his fists. Joey went over and locked the door after him. "Are you okay?" She said coming towards him. "Yeah I'm fine if you didn't come in when you did I probably would have spent the night in jail" He said.

"Well I'm glad I decided to show up then" She said joking. He smiled. "So you met my jack ass of a brother in law what do you think?" He said.

"I think that he's an ass and if he knows what's good for him then he would leave Marissa alone" She said. "It's not over I know it" He said.

"Didn't he know Julie sent her here?" She said. "No I talked to Julie the other day she said he didn't know where she was. Apparently that's all changed" He said.

"You can't let him go near Marissa Pace he can derail her from getting over this which she's finally starting to do" She said.

"As long as I'm alive and well he won't get near her" He said. "Where is she?" She said. He thought about it. "Marissa's at the dance" He said suddenly grabbing his keys and racing towards the door. "Pacey wait a minute" She said following him.

A few minutes later they arrived at Harbor. He got out. She chased after him. "Pacey think about this he's not that stupid to show up at her school. What are the odds that he even knows she's at the dance?" She said.

"Because Joey he found me at work which means he's been to the house and he knows she's not there. And he could have very well have found out where she goes to school" He said rushing towards the door.

"So what are you going to do drag her out? Embarrass her in front of her friends? Just because you're worried that he might get to her?" She said. "You have a better idea?" He said.

"Yeah I do. Wait out here look out for him I'll go inside check in on Marissa since I'm a counselor here the kids will probably think I'm chaperoning it." She said. He nodded in agreement. "Okay" She said going to walk off. "Joey thank you" He said. She walked off.

Joey looked around the gym for any sign of Marissa but she didn't see her. She looked for anyone who knew her and she saw Seth talking with Summer by the other end. She walked up to him.

"Seth" She said. "Hi Ms. Potter" He said. "I was wondering if you knew where I can find Marissa" She said. "Marissa and Ryan already left I think they where going back home" Summer said.

"Why is something wrong?" Seth said getting a weird feeling. "No just if you hear from Ryan or Marissa tell her not to go home to just go to your house" She said walking away.

"That was weird" Summer said. "Yeah which can only mean one thing" He said. "Marissa and Ryan are in trouble" She said. "Yeah come on we gotta find them" Seth said grabbing her by the hand.

Meanwhile Marissa and Ryan were just getting out of the car. He had driven her home. They where walking to her front gate. "So I had a nice time tonight" She said.

"Yeah it looks like Seth and Summer kind of hit it off too" He said She smiled. "Yeah maybe Seth will be happy for awhile huh?" She said.

"Yeah" He said looking at her. She looked at him.

Wondering what she was doing she had no interest in just being his friend so she decided to talk to him about it.

"Ryan I… She got interrupted. "Marissa" She heard the voice and knew automatically who it was.

She stood frozen in her spot and turned to the person who had spoke...


	14. This can't be happening

** Okay so I promised a big update and I thinkI was generous with these few chapters. So I hope everyone's having a nice fourth of July and I will be updating this shortly as well as the sequel to What College may bring. I'm almost ready with my first post to the story so look out for that very soon! Happy reading everyone!**

**This can't be happening**

She stood frozen in her spot and turned to the person who had spoke. Ryan noticed the change in her and knew trouble was about to go down. The man got out of a green pick up parked just outside of her house.

He walked towards them. "We need to talk" He said. "No we don't so just leave me alone" She said walking up her front steps. He looked at Ryan.

"You should go home we have to talk" He said to Ryan. Ryan got defensive. "I think she clearly said she doesn't want to talk to you" Ryan said. "Who the hell is this kid?" He said to Marissa.

"Leave him alone. Ryan just go home" She warned looking at him. "Oh is this your boyfriend? Well here's a clue you should go because Marissa is going back home where she belongs" He said.

"No I'm not dad" She said. "Yes you are" He said. "She's not going anywhere with you" Ryan said. "Ryan just please stay out of it just please go home" She said trying to protect him.

"Your not smart kid" He said grabbing Ryan by the collar. Marissa ran down the steps scared that he was going to hurt Ryan. "Leave him alone" She said.

Just then her uncles black bmw pulled up in front of the house and a frazzled angry Pacey emerged from it with Joey behind him. He rushed up to the porch. "Let him go Jimmy or do you want to go to jail for beating the crap out of another kid?" He said.

Marissa looked at Pacey shocked that he knew the truth. Jimmy let go of Ryan but started going towards Pacey. "You know I had enough of you. You think your such a great person. You're just a screw up the sooner you realize that the better" He said.

Joey looked knowing that this was exactly the way to get to Pacey. She could already saw him balling his fists.

"A screw up like you huh? A guy who drinks his way into oblivion and doesn't give a damn what that does to his family. Let me tell you something Jimmy you hurt her for the last time it's not happening any more. You're not going to get another chance at destroying her life anymore then you already have" Pacey said yelling at him.

Marissa looked on scared. Ryan looked on at what was going on basically because he was really close to the argument. All of a sudden Jimmy punched Pacey squarely in the face. He got up and fought back. It was an all out war on the front lawn.

Joey yelled to Marissa to call the police while Ryan tried to pull Jimmy off of Pacey. Within a few minutes sirens could be heard in the distance. He looked at Pacey.

"Get the hell out of here the next time you try to come back here you won't be walking out alive and you can trust me on that one" Pacey said darkly. Jimmy left and jumped in his pick up and ran away.

Pacey looked on as his he drove off and then turned and looked at Marissa. She looked at him tears where streaming down her face and she took off.

"Marissa" Pacey yelled. "Don't worry I'll get her" Ryan said going after her. Joey grabbed his hand "Come on we gotta get ice on that eye" She said leading him to the house.

Ryan was searching for an hour already and he couldn't find her. Seth had called a little while ago saying that him and Summer where waiting by the house to see if she came back.

There was only one more place he could think of so he got in the car and drove toward the beach. He parked and got out. He spotted her silhouette sitting on the lifeguard stand.

He walked up the ramp his tie hang loosely from his neck and she looked up. He sat next to her. She had her arms folded signaling she was cold after all she was wearing a thin dress not exactly a beach outfit.

Tears where streaming down her face. He looked at her. "Marissa everything's gonna be okay" He said trying to comfort her. She stared at him hoping he was right. She leaned into him and cried on his shoulder.

Joey put an ice pack on his cheekbone. "Ouch" He said. "It's for your own good" She said sitting next to him in the kitchen. "I should be looking for her not sitting here" He said.

"Trust me Ryan will find her" She said looking at him. "Yeah I know but she's probably scared and angry" He said. "Yeah she is but those feelings aren't towards you there meant for her father" She said. He let out a small laugh.

"Where you always this wise?" He said. "Yeah" She said joking. "Right sorry my mistake" He said. She laughed. "So thanks for being there tonight" He said dropping the ice pack on the table. She shrugged. "You've done it for me plenty of times" She reminded him.

He nodded. "Well regardless my rap sheet thanks you. I don't think my record could handle another arrest" He said joking. "Pacey that was junior year and you were in the drunk tank you don't have a record for that" She said with a smile.

"Yeah I know" he said. She looked at him. "You know you really should put that on your eye otherwise you going to have one nasty bruise" she said grabbing and placing it there.

This made her eyes on the same level as his and it made her freeze. It was definitely an awkward moment that wasn't missed by him. She looked down and coughed breaking the silence.

"So now that everything's okay I should get going" she said going to grab her coat. He tugged on her arm and she didn't expect it. She turned and looked at him.

"Thank you" He said and he leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back. She smiled and rested her forehead against his.

"So you'll call me let me know Marissa's okay?" She said. He laughed at her nervousness.

"Yeah I will and you know for what ever other reason I can think of to call you." He said joking. She smiled. "Okay" She said and she kissed him on the cheek and left.

Pacey thought about her with a smile. Now all he could do was wait for Marissa to come home.

In the next chapter: More Ryan/Marissa interaction and Marissa goes home toface up to her past.


	15. I realize I need you

**I realize I need you**

She was still leaned into Ryan with her hand in his. The tears were starting to subside. "We should get back soon. Everybody must be worried" He said. "I can't go just yet" She said shivering.

He got up took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She smiled giving him thanks. "Now you must be cold" She said. "I can take it" He said. She smiled thinking about how great he's been to her so far and yet she was still holding back.

She knew she was drawn to Ryan and that he liked her but she wasn't sure if they should be anything more then friends but she thought about the night they had and decided that they were more than friends already and no matter how scary that was she didn't want to stop that from happening.

He watched her lost in her thoughts. "What?" He said. She shook her head. "Nothing" She said with a smile. He looked at her with a smile. All of sudden a serious silence came over them and they both knew in that moment what was going to happen next. He leaned into her and kissed her and she kissed him back.

She rested her forehead against his. "Ryan I'm sorry about the whole friends thing. I don't know why I said it. I just sort of got nervous and it came out" She said. He laughed.

"It's okay I get it." He said looking at her understanding what she was trying to say. She smiled. He smiled back. "Ryan" She said. "Yeah?" He said. "I'm ready to go home" She said. "Come on" He said helping her stand up and they walked off hand in hand towards his car.

It had been a few hours and he waited patiently in the living room waiting for Marissa to come home. He just wanted to know she was safe. Mean while outside Ryan had pulled up in front of the house.

"I can come in if you want" He said making sure she knew she wasn't in this alone anymore. She looked at the house. "No I have to do this" She said looking at him. "Okay" Ryan said. She leaned in and kissed him. "I'll call you" She said.

He nodded. She got out and slammed the door shut walked up the front steps and turned and looked at him one last time. She smiled.

Inside he heard the car door slam and immediately sprinted towards the window and relief came over him when he saw her. He didn't want to be too pushy so he sat down and waited for her to come in.

He heard the door opening and the headlights of Ryan's car disappearing. She closed the door and she walked in. He stood up and looked at her. "Are you okay?" He said. She smiled sadly and the words were lost on her in that moment.

So she did the next best thing she rushed towards him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "I was scared you were hurt and dealing with it by yourself" He said. A few tears escaped her eyes.

"Well I was at first. Until Ryan made me realize that I'm not alone. You know he made me realize that I have you" She said looking at him. He smiled. "You do kiddo" He said.

"Are you okay though? I mean that looks like a nasty bruise above your eye" She said concerned. "Yeah Joey warned me about it but I didn't listen so I might have to hide in the back of the restaurant for a while until it heals" He said joking.

He sat down and she plopped next to him. "Why didn't you tell me?" He said looking at her. She shrugged. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?" She said. "Good Point but from now on you and me we gotta be honest with each other" He said.

"I promise which is a good segue by the way. So since we're being honest. You like her don't you?" She said. He looked at her with a smile. "Well I sort of have for along time now getting over her just didn't happen for me" He said.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you're not meant to get over her? Maybe her being here is fate's way of telling you you're supposed to be with her" she said suggested looking at him. He threw his arm around her. "How did you get to be so wise?" He said. "I learned it from the best person I know" She said.

"Yeah who's that one of those girls from the "Valley"?" He said joking. "No from you" She said. He smiled. "So on a happier note how was the dance?" He said. "You know it was a dance" She said thinking about it. A smile spread on her face. "Really fun" She said breaking out into a smile.

"Yeah?" He said. She laughed. "You know as bad as this night was it had its moments" She said. "Like Ryan coming to find you" He said teasing. "Yeah like for you the good thing that came from all of this is you kissing Joey" She said. He looked at her in amazement. "How did you know that?" He said. "I'm a girl Uncle Pacey" She said. "Good point" He said.

"I'm gonna go to bed now" She said kissing his cheek and getting up and walking towards her room. "So are you and Ryan just friends? or is there a possibility for something more?" He said calling it over his shoulder. She smiled. "There's definitely possibilities. Good night." She said.

"Hey wait a minute you know I'd like to get to know Ryan. Why don't you bring him around" He said going into protective mode. She closed her bedroom door. "Goodnight" she yelled. "Night Marissa" He said and he laughed and went to bed.

Mean while Seth had pulled up in front of Summer's. "So weird night huh?" He said. "Not all of it. I just hope Marissa's really okay" Summer said.

"Well Ryan said when he called that she's going to be okay" He said trying to reassure her. "Yeah" She said. "So thanks for tonight" He said. She smiled. "Yeah you know whatever." She said.

"Yeah so listen thanks for coming" He said. She nodded. She kissed his cheek. "Well night Cohen. Oh and thanks for the invite" She said smiling getting out.

He stood there amazed. Summer had actually kissed him on the cheek.

He snapped out of it after awhile and drove home.

He was definitely in need of some serious Seth, Ryan time.


	16. The next day at school

**A/N: Okay so I haven't updated in awhile but I felt due to the lack of reviews that no one was really interested so I'm posting this as and if I don't receive any reviews than I'll know no one else is reading this and I'll no longer update this story even though I've written a lot of already. So remember if you like it tell me about it and if you don't like it tell me what I could do to fix it. Reviews of any kind are always welcome. Just so you know even though it's technically a crossover Ryan and Marissa are the center of my story. So enjoy and comment! **

**The next day at school**

Monday at school Marissa was throwing her books into her locker when Summer came running up to her. "Coop how are you? Are you okay? I haven't heard from you all weekend?" Summer said hugging her. "I'm okay Summer I just needed some time to think about stuff. So now that it's out of the way how was the dance?" Marissa said.

"Well it was interesting" she said. "And Seth?" Marissa said. Summer looked up at her. "We'll see" She said. Summer and Marissa walked to the quad to have lunch. They sat down. "So Coop spill what happened with Ryan after all that drama went down?" Summer said. "Well we… she was interrupted by Seth.

It seems Seth and Ryan where having lunch in the quad also. "Hello Summer. Marissa" Seth said. "Seth" they said in unison. Marissa looked at Ryan and he looked at her. No words were spoken. Summer took action. "You guys want to sit with us?" Summer said looking at both Seth and Ryan.

Well you didn't have to tell Seth twice he sat right down. Ryan nodded and Marissa moved her chair over. He sat down. "So Cooper how's it going?" Seth said. "Everything's okay and Seth don't call me Cooper" Marissa said. "Ouch" Seth said. Ryan laughed.

"So I'm gonna go get some yogurt. Come on Cohen you can help" Summer said. "We'll be back" Seth said leaving. Marissa laughed. Ryan stared at her "So Friday was she interrupted him "Was fun" She said. "Yeah?" He said nervously. "Yeah" She said nodding. "Maybe we can do it again sometime?" He said. "Well I think it's a possibility" Marissa said smiling. He grabbed her hand.

"Aw look Summer there holding hands" Seth said trying to embarrass them. "Shut up Cohen" She said slapping him on the back of the head. "Sorry I forgot about the rage black outs" He said. She playfully hit him. "Cohen" Summer warned him. Ryan and Marissa looked at each other and laughed.

"So you guys next week's the schools kick off Carnival" Marissa said. "Yes that right and Coop was just named head social chair. Which means she gets to run it this year" Summer said. "Wow kick off carnival fun" Seth said sarcastically. They all looked at him.

"Seth" They said. "I know shut up. So kick off carnival huh. What rides are you gonna have?" Seth said. "Well the tilt a whirl and bumper cars and everybody's favorite the Ferris wheel" Marissa said proudly. Seth laughed. "Yeah especially Ryan's" Seth said sarcastically. Ryan glared at him and he shut up.

"So we can go and hang or what ever?" Summer said. "Yeah. Ryan?" Marissa said. "Sure" Ryan said. "How come nobody asked me?" Seth said. "Because Cohen you coming is already a given especially if Chino goes" Summer said. "Summer your so funny" Seth said. Summer smiled at him. "Well I have to go to Bio. I'll see you guys later" She said.

"Wait up Summer I'll walk you" Seth said following her. "Bye Sum" Marissa said. "Later" Ryan said. She looked at Ryan and got up "Well I have to start heading to English before I'm late" She said.

"Yeah may be we can hang out later" He said. "Definitely. I'll meet you at your house after my meeting for the carnival" She said and kissed him. "Bye" He said. She walked away leaving Ryan standing there with a smile.

Marissa had just finished with her meeting and was leaving the main entrance of the school and came down the steps. She heard a car honk and she looked to see who it was. "Coop" she heard Summer say.

She smiled and walked towards the car. "Sum what are you doing here?" She said getting in. "I thought you could use a ride besides I had detention because I fell asleep in English God it's so boring" She said.

Marissa laughed. "So what are you doing anyway?" Summer said pulling away. "Well I have plans with Ryan later its nothing major" She said. Summer smiled. "So if your hanging with Chino what's Seth going to do?" She said. Marissa thought about it. "Hey you know we could all hang out maybe go somewhere or something" Marissa said. "Sounds Cool Coop. Oh I almost forget this awesome band is playing at the bait shop we can even go there" Summer said.

"The bait shop?" Marissa said. Summer looked at her confused. "Oh sorry I forgot you're new to New Port. The Bait shop is this funky little club that sometimes books live bands to play their venue. It's awesome and it's a high school kind of club so we can totally get in" Summer said.

"Its sounds fun but you think they'll want to go?" Marissa said. "Well Ryan will go if you want to go and Seth will like the band so he'll definitely want to go" Summer said. "Or he'll go because he likes you" Marissa said teasing. "Coop shut up" She said pulling up in front of Marissa's.

They saw her uncle just going in. "Hey so your uncle's home" Summer said. "Yeah I guess now's a good time to talk about going tonight. Alright so I'll call Ryan run it by him and I'll call you and we can meet up. Thanks for the ride" She said getting out. "Later Coop" Summer said leaving.

Marissa came into the house. Pacey looked up. "Hey kiddo how was school?" He said. "It was school but I wanted to ask you something. Did you ever hear of The Bait Shop?" She said. "Yeah it's a funky little indie club at the end of the pier. Why?" He said. "Because Summer asked me if I want to go see the band playing tonight and I'm supposed to run it by Ryan and Seth so can I?" She said.

"Yeah sure you know have fun but be back by curfew" He said. "Thanks I'm going to call Ryan" She said heading towards her room. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed his cell. Meanwhile Ryan heard his phone ring and went to answer it.

He picked up. "Hello" He said. "Ryan" "Marissa" He said. "Hey Summer just told me about this band playing at the bait shop and I thought it sounded kind of fun and I was just wondering if maybe you and Seth might want to come too?" She said Ryan stayed silence. "Ryan" Marissa said. "Sure. What time?" He said. Marissa smiled and they made the arrangements and he got off the phone and looked for Seth.

He knocked on his door. "Enter" Seth said. "So Marissa Called" Ryan said. "Oh yeah what did she say. Weren't you guys supposed to hang out today?" Seth said sorting his comics. "Actually we were but apparently Summer asked if she wanted to go to the bait shop tonight because there's this band playing there" He said.

Seth looked up suddenly seeming interested in the conversation. "Shut up! Marissa Cooper is going to see death cab tonight?" Seth said shocked and surprised. Ryan looked at him strangely. "The bands name Ryan keep up" Seth said. "Yeah and she asked us to go" Ryan said. "And you said yes?" Seth said with a laugh. "Why maybe it's a good band?" He said trying to convince himself.

"They are. They just aren't "Journey" and there just not your type of band" Seth said. "So what I get to be with Marissa so it doesn't matter. So are you going to come or what?" Ryan said.

"Ryan you mentioned Summer and Death cab two of my favorite things. Of course I'm going keep up Atwood" He said. Ryan glared at him.

"Seth Summer's not an object" He said.

"Of course not so what time are we meeting up?" Seth said.

"Seven. Marissa's going to meet us there" He said. Seth nodded.

"I gotta go fix my hair" He said. Ryan laughed.


	17. Journey & an early birthday present

**Journey & an early birthday present**

**A/N: Okay guys so you know what to do if you want another post. Review! Review! Review! I'll post more soon by for now I gotta get going because it's my birthday! Yeah so send me your comments your criticism anything. Just tell me how you're feeling and what you like and what you don't. Thanks to those of you who have already reviewed I appreciate!**

Marissa waited outside the entrance. "Hey Coop I got the tickets. Where's Chino and Cohen?" She said. "I told them seven" She said. "I swear to god if there late I'm gonna kill them" Summer said. Marissa noticed Ryan and Seth walking towards them. "Summer calm down there here" Marissa said. "Hey" Ryan said. "Hey" Marissa said. "Sorry we're late Seth had to fix his hair" He said.

Marissa laughed and Summer glared at Seth. "What like you don't do that?" Seth said to Ryan. "I don't know Cohen but Ryan doesn't seem the type to be all into himself like you are" Summer said. "Hey you called him Ryan" Seth said trying to be funny. They laughed. "I got the tickets so you guys could actually get in. Here's one for you and one for you Cohen" Summer said.

"Thanks" They said. "No problem" She said. "So we should go in its probably starting" Seth said. "Why are you in such a rush?" Summer said following Seth. "Because Summer I like Death Cab" Seth said. "How's that possible?" She said. "Because they're a good band" Seth said. "Yeah I know Cohen. I'm the one who mentioned the concert because I like love Death cab" She said. "Are you serious?" He said. "As serious as a heart attack" Summer said. Marissa smiled.

"So are you excited about Death Cab?" Marissa said sarcastically. Ryan looked at her. "No Marissa Chino didn't have live music so Ryan was deprived. He basically suffered listening to Journey." He said. "Seth" He said in a warning tone. "Okay come on lets go in" Seth said.

They heard the music blasting. The girls went to find seats while the boys went to get drinks. Summer found seats. "Coop over here" She said and Marissa sat down next to her.

Half way into the night Marissa went looking for Ryan. She found him outside sitting on the bench. "You know you could have told me you didn't like this band" She said sitting next to him. He looked at her. "It's fine really Seth and I come here every so often so I'm used to it" He said. Marissa smiled.

"Why don't we go to the diner I've had enough of live music for the night anyways" She said. "Alright" He said. They got up. "So Ryan what is your favorite band anyways?" She said walking next to him. He smiled and looked at her. "Journey" He said. She grabbed his hand and laughed. "Journey huh?" She said with a smile.

"Yeah, so should we go find Seth and Summer?" He said. Marissa thought about it. "No, besides they probably want to catch the rest of it" She said. "What about you?" He said. "I'd rather go to the diner" She said with a smile. He laughed and they walked off to his range rover.

Eventually Summer and Seth caught up with them and Seth caught them up on what they missed but pretty soon they were sick of hearing him talk so they decided to end the night. Ryan walked Marissa to her door. She smiled. "So I should get use to Seth and his endless talking right?" She said. "Well if this is going to work then yeah. Is that going to be a problem?" He said kidding.

"Not at all it seems like a small price to pay" She said laughing a little. "Oh but you don't know Seth" He said with a half smile leaning into kiss her. He pulled away slowly. She looked into his eyes and smiled a shy smile.

"Yeah definitely a small price to pay" She said joking grabbing his hand. "So I'll pick you up in the morning before school" He said. "Okay" She said. "Alright well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then" He said. "Good night" she said and gave him a quick kiss. He smiled and walked down the steps towards the car. She smiled and went inside.

The next morning as promised Ryan was there to pick her up. He rang the bell. A disheveled Pacey opened the door. "Ryan hey" He said. "How you doing Mr. Witter?" He said. "I'm good. Come in Marissa's almost ready" He said. Ryan came in. "So where's your side kick this morning?" He said. "Seth went to school early" Ryan said.

"I could never get out of bed barely in time for High School. I don't know how you guys do it" He said. "Well we learn from the best" A hurried Marissa appeared shoving on her shoe. She looked up and smiled at Ryan. "Well good morning Marissa. You guys want anything before you go?" Pacey said. "No, thanks" Ryan said. "Besides we'll be late for school" She said grabbing her books off the table.

She kissed her uncle. "See ya later" She said. "See you at the restaurant" He said. Marissa almost forgot about it. "Right" She said. "We better go" Ryan said checking his watch. "Alright come on" She said grabbing Ryan by the hand. "Bye Mr. Witter" He said. "Bye Ryan" He said.

She practically dragged him down the steps. "So what was that in there?" He said getting in the car. He was talking about her spacing about work. "Okay it's just so many things have been going on that I almost forgot I had work today" She said. He laughed. "Well you sound really busy do I have to book an appointment just to see you?" He said joking. She playfully hit him in the arm. "Just drive" She said with a laugh. Ryan laughed.

That afternoon she pulled a shift at the restaurant and promised to meet Summer for dinner at the crab shack afterwards. She pulled off her apron and hung it in the back room. "So I'm punched out you need anymore help?" She said to her uncle. "No I'm good get out of here oh by the way here are the keys" He said handing her the keys.

"But how are you gonna get home?" She said. "Well in my car" He said. She looked at him puzzled. He smiled. "It's an early birthday present" He said. She looked up surprised. "You didn't?" She said. He went out back and she followed and there before her eyes was a silver mini Jeep. "Uncle Pacey" She said. "You like it?" He said. "It's too much" She said.

"Well you're getting it anyway Marissa because you deserve it" He said. She smiled and hugged him. "Thank you" She said. "How's that for a sixteenth birthday present huh?" He said. She laughed. "It's great" She said with a laugh. "Alright so go meet Summer and have fun" He said. "Okay. Thank you" She said hugging him. She whispered into his shoulder "I love you". He smiled. "I love you too. Now go before your late" He said.

"I'll see you at home" She said getting in the car and waving before driving off. A few minutes later she pulled into the crab shack parking lot and spotted Summer waiting by her car. She walked towards her. "Coop who's car is that?" Summer said. "It was an early birthday present from Uncle Pacey" She said. "That's so cool. Come on I'm starved" She said.

"Lead the way" Marissa said and they went to eat. She spent some time with Summer but Summer got a call from her dad saying he needed to talk to her so she went home. It was early so Marissa debated on whether or not she should go home. She smiled and drove off to the Cohen's.

She pulled into the drive way and get out of the car. She knocked on the door. Seth opened the door. "Marissa" He said letting her in. "Hey Seth" she said. He closed the door. "Ryan" He yelled. "Wait a minute. How do you know I didn't come to see you?" She said. "Come on do you really expect me to believe that? Marissa I hate to disappoint you but I don't look good in wife beaters" He said.

"Oh so you think Ryan looks good in wife beaters?" She said clearly kidding with him. "You walked right into that one man" Ryan said appearing from the kitchen. Seth looked disgusted. "I'm gonna go play a video game" Seth said walking away. Marissa laughed. "Hey" He said giving her a kiss. "So I thought I'd come by see if you were busy" She said. "I thought you had plans with Summer?" He said.

"I did but she had to go home to talk to her dad" She said. "Oh, well come on we can hang out in the pool house" He said. They walked into the kitchen. "Hey Mr. Cohen" She said. "Hi, Marissa" He said. "We're gonna go hang out with Seth in the pool house" Ryan said. "See ya later" He said. They walked in the pool house.

She jokingly looked for Seth. "Well Ryan it looks like Seth isn't here so we can't hang out with him" She said teasing. "Just as well" He said leaning in to kiss her. "So it turns out I can't play this new ninja game by myself Ryan I need another player" Seth said coming out of nowhere. They pulled apart and looked in his direction. Ryan glared at him. "Oh sorry" Seth said. She laughed. "No that's okay you guys can play" She said.

"But we were supposed to hang out" Ryan said. "I didn't say I was leaving" She said with a smile. "Come on Seth one game" Ryan said. Marissa sat on the side chair watching them play but of course Ryan knew better one game was never one game. So far they had played four times and it had been two hours. "Okay I'm done" He said. "Ryan" Seth said. "Seth good bye" Ryan said. "Alright" He said walking out of the pool house.

He turned and found a sleeping Marissa. He smiled and walked over to her and nudged her awake. She woke up with a smile. "You guys are done?" She said pushing her hair away from her face. "Yeah" He said. She looked at her watch. "I have to go home curfews soon" She said getting up. "Right" He said. "Plus I have some homework to do" She said and gave him a kiss.

"See you tomorrow?" He said. "Yeah you know I could drop by pick you guys up?" She said grabbing her coat. "How's your uncle gonna get to work?" He said. "In his car. He bought me an early birthday present" She said.

"Wow sixteenth birthday huh?" He said. "Yeah So do you guys need a ride or what?" She said. "Yeah actually that'll be great because Kirsten needs the car tomorrow" He said. "Okay so I'll see you tomorrow" She said giving him another kiss before leaving.


	18. So what do you think of New Port?

**So what do you think of New Port?**

"So Ryan when is Marissa actually getting here?" Seth said sitting in the chair in the pool house a daily ritual waiting for Ryan to get his stuff together for school. "I don't know She said she'd be here by seven thirty" He said looking for his bag behind the counter. Seth looked at his watch.

"Well it's a little past seven thirty man" Seth said sarcastically. Ryan glared at him. "You know if you're so worried you can walk" He said finding his bag. Meanwhile Summer and Marissa got out of the car in front of the Cohen's to get them so they can go.

"I'm just saying Coop you could be a little more organized and then this way you won't be late" She said walking around the back of the house. "Come on Sum it doesn't happen everyday" She said.

"Coop it's happened every time I've went to school with you. I'm just saying If you keep it up your gonna get detention" Summer said. "Thanks Sum but I hardly think they make the social chair spend a day in detention. I mean the reason I've been so flaky lately is because of the carnival. I mean I hardly even got any sleep last night there's so much to do" She said.

They walked in and Seth looked up. "Finally now we can go if Ryan would put a step on it" Seth said. "Hey Cohen pipe down" Summer said. "Sum you were just arguing with me about being late just before we got here" She said reminded her.

"I'm gonna wait in the car" Summer said. "Me too can you guys kindly come on" Seth said leaving. Ryan stepped out of the bathroom and immediately a smile came to his face when he saw Marissa there.

"Hey. Where's Seth?" He said coming over to her. She smiled. "Well he's outside with Summer apparently we're a little to slow getting ready in the morning" She said. He laughed. "Let me guess Summer gave you the late to school speech?" He said.

"Yeah as Seth did with you. I mean is it only obvious to us that they're meant for each other" She said kidding. "Apparently" He said and he kissed her. "Okay lets go before Seth freaks" She said. "And Summer has a rage black out" He said sarcastically grabbing his bag. He followed her out and went to the car.

That afternoon Marissa was setting up for the carnival with the help of the rest of the committee. She even got Summer to help which was an accomplishment. She was tired and there was still so much to do. She held the clip board in her hand and started talking

"So we got the tilt a whirl, but where still waiting on the Ferris wheel" She said. "Yeah Coop did you find out what's the deal with that?" Summer said. "The guy promised by six so hopefully it gets here in time for tomorrow" She said.

"I hope so. I'm gonna help out make sure the vendor stands are being put together the right way" Summer said.

"Or you could actually help put the stands up" Marissa said. "And break a nail Coop come on" She said walking away. Marissa laughed. "So I see you got Summer enlisted to help you out" Seth said. She turned and looked at him.

"Yeah, so did you come here for a reason? Or did you want to lend a helping hand?" She said. He laughed.

"Seth's not really the guy for that job" Ryan said walking up to her. She smiled. "Right so who is?" She said teasing. "Well if you need the help tell me where to start?" Ryan said. She smiled.

"Okay. well I guess you can help set up some of the vendor stands and Seth you can just go find Summer and just make sure she's not getting in the way" She said. "I'm on it" Seth said walking off in search of Summer.

"Come on I'll show you where you can start" She said and Ryan followed her.

They were done in a matter of hours. It was pretty late when they finished so Ryan went to find Marissa to tell her he was finished putting up the stands.

He saw her standing by the Ferris wheel which obviously just arrived. Her hair was falling loosely out of her pony tail and it looked like she was tired. He smiled watching her.

He slowly made his way over to her. "Cooper if you keep working this hard you'll sleep right through the carnival" He said walking up to her. She smiled brushing some of the hair out of her face and looked at him. "Tell me about it" She said.

"So everything's all set up" He said. "Great at least someone's getting things done unlike some other friends that promised to help me that bailed an hour ago to the diner" She said.

"So me and you are friends huh so that's what there calling it now?" He said joking. "Very funny. You know what I mean" Marissa said with a smile.

"So I take it Seth bailed" He said. "Yeah but only because Summer bailed and used him as an excuse apparently he was the only one who had a get away car" she said with a laugh. He laughed.

"Right so he took the car then which means he stranded me" He said. "Your not stranded my cars parked in the lot. Trust me I've known Summer long enough to know not to trust her when there's work involved such as prepping for carnivals" She said with a smile.

"That's funny because that's exactly how Seth is" He said. "Well don't they make quite a couple if only she would realize it" She said pushing a strand of hair from her face.

"So everyone else is pretty much gone I see" He said. "Yeah I sent them home. They where either aggravating me or causing to much commotion like the water polo players." She said. He laughed. "Right. So you almost finished here?" He said.

"Yeah for tonight anyway. Then tomorrow I have to get here early you know prepare make sure 90 of it doesn't fall apart because really I don't need that especially since I'm not everyone's favorite person as it is" She said closing her binder.

He smiled. "Come on I'll drive" He said. "Good because I think I could fall asleep just putting my foot to the pedals" She said joking and handing him the keys. He laughed. "Just let me get my jacket" She said giving him a kiss. "Alright" he said. He waited for her to get it and then they walked to the car and he drove home.

He pulled up in front of her house and parked and turned the ignition off. "So your home." He said. "Yeah" She said weirdly. "What's the matter?" He said. "Nothing, it's just now that I'm here I don't really feel like going home" She said looking in his direction.

"Well it's only ten thirty we can go grab a burger or something" He said. "Why don't we go to the pier" She said. "Alright" He said pulling out.

They were walking along the beach hands linked. "So what do you think of New Port?" She said. He laughed. "Marissa I've lived in New Port for like a year and a half now" He reminded her.

"That doesn't mean you can't answer the question. So what do you think of New Port?" She said with a smile. He looked at her. "I think I can get in a lot less trouble where I'm from" He said. She laughed.

"You know one of these days you're going to have to show me Chino" She said. "Trust me you don't want to see it" He said.

"Why not?" She said. "Because unlike New Port it doesn't have mansions. It has run down houses, and instead of fashion Island we have thrift stores, instead of the bait shop we have the local seven eleven parking lot to hang in. It's just a completely different world." He said.

"But it's apart of you. You know you've lived there for a good portion of your life." She said. "It was apart of me. And by the way I'm originally from Fresno. Which isn't too much to brag about it I know" He said joking. She laughed. "Don't you miss it sometimes?" She said.

"Are you kidding me? Do I miss wondering where Trey disappeared to, wondering if or not I was gonna get kicked out of the house? Wondering where I would go? Waiting for my mom to take off yet again to just leave me there to pick up the pieces. It's not something I ever want to do again." He said.

She leaned into his shoulder. "You won't have too" she said. He smiled. They saw the lifeguard stand. "You want to go sit?" She said. "Sure" he said. She pulled him in the direction. Where they continued to talk and eventually became silent.

Before they realized the sun had risen and blinded Marissa awake. When she came to she panicked and turned to a sleeping Ryan. "Oh my god. Ryan wake up" She said.

He woke rubbing his eyes. "What?" He said. "What? It's like 7 am and were still here" She said getting up and straightening out her clothes.

"Okay don't panic" he said getting up. "My uncles going to kill me" She said rushing towards the car. He followed quickly after her. She dropped him off. "Marissa are you going to be alright cuz I can explain it to him" He said.

"No that's okay it's probably better if I do this alone. I'll call you later." She said giving him a quick kiss. He got out and she drove off and quickly raced down the block and parking quickly and got out of the car.

She hurried up the stairs and knew when she opened the door she was going to hear it.


	19. Are you my girlfriend?

**Are you my girlfriend?**

She hurried up the stairs and knew when she opened the door she was going to hear it. Marissa closed the door behind her. He turned towards. "Hey Maris you have fun at Summer's?" Pacey said catching her off guard.

She stopped and thought a minute. "Summer's?" She said confused. "Yeah she called me and told me that you had crashed after all the work you did. Said she was going to let you sleep. I'm surprised to see you this early actually" He said staring at her.

She laughed nervously. "Yeah I was tired last night but you know I thought I'd get a head start on the day. To make sure everything was good for the carnival" She said. "Right Well I gotta get to the restaurant so have fun setting up and I guess I'll see you later. Have fun tonight." He said.

"Okay" She said. He grabbed his keys and was about to walk out the door. She pushed her hair back and jumped when he stuck his head in the door. "By the way say hi to Ryan for me" He said with a smile. She laughed. "Okay" She said.

That afternoon she went to the Cohen's. She went around back so she couldn't catch anyone's glares because quite frankly she was afraid Ryan got in trouble over this. She walked into the pool house. "Hey" She said. "So I see you're not grounded". He said.

"Yeah no, apparently I was at Summer's last night" Marissa said. He laughed. "Really because you know I was so tired I crashed on Seth's floor last night" He said. She laughed. "How did they know?" She said.

"Apparently when they left Summer came back here and he tried to teach her to play xbox and she wound up leaving really late and she just assumed that we wouldn't be getting home. So she kept calling Seth to see if I got home and when it got really late she just told Seth she was gonna call Pacey and tell him you where there." He said. She laughed.

"Well they are good for something after all" She said. "Yeah we misjudged them" He said. She smiled. "So I thought you were gonna head over to the school to see that everything's going as planned?" He said. "Yeah I actually did" she said sitting in the chair.

"Turns out everything's going as planned, everything's pretty much ready. Now we just have to wait for people to show up" She said. "Which is hardly a struggle the whole school practically goes to kick off carnival Mostly for the Ferris wheel it seems to be the main attraction" He said. "Except yours?" She said teasing. He joked "I got enough attractions right here" He said.

She laughed. "So if I go on the Ferris wheel I'm gonna have to ride it alone?" She said. "Of course not. You can go with Summer" He suggested teasing her. "Ryan?" She said pleading. "Look Marissa I don't do heights" He said seriously.

"Okay fine I guess I'll take Summer or maybe if Kyle's not busy I can ask him to go on with me. Hmm I should go ask him in case Summer's busy" she said joking pretending to leave. He chased after her. "Now you see what you're doing your trying to guilt me into going on with you" He said with a smile holding onto her waist.

"Is it working?" She said with a crooked smile. "Nope Sorry" He said. "Okay fine. Well I gotta go pick up the balloons and bring them to the school. So I'll see you at the carnival?" She said. "I'll be there" He said and with that he kissed her. "Ryan it's time for a little Seth/ Ryan time buddy" Seth said walking in. They both turned and looked at him.

"Or not" He said going to leave. She laughed. "No Seth that's okay I'm leaving. I got a bunch of stuff to do. So I guess I'll see you guys tonight" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Yeah Ferris wheels, tilt a whirl count me in" Seth said sarcastically.

"You know Seth in order to fit in you do actually have to do these types of things especially since Summer likes do these types of things. Which by the way she loves…." He cut her off. "The tilt a whirl do I look like I was born yesterday I've liked Summer my entire life. Things like that are kind of hard not to know" He said.

"That's sweet and a little creepy but don't worry I won't tell Summer. See ya" Marissa said. "Bye" They said. "You know that girlfriend of yours has become quite the comedian" Seth said. Ryan snapped his head up. "Girlfriend?" Ryan said.

"Yeah you know when you like a girl and you hang out and take her to dinner and do things like go to the kick off carnival when you would never be caught dead there falls under the general consensus of boyfriend material. It's in the manual. You should look it up" Seth said teasing. "And you would know this how?" Ryan said insulting him.

"Ouch Ryan. So what's up? Are you freaked now that you think she thinks you're her boyfriend?" Seth said. "Seth she didn't say that" Ryan said. "Come on dude she totally thinks so. What's the big deal anyway?" He said.

"I dunno I went out with girls but they never really stuck around long enough to actually date them" Ryan explained. "Hmm well this is a conversation for Marissa and you know where to find her" He said walking out. "Thanks" Ryan said sarcastically. "No problem" He said. Ryan thought about it and grabbed his keys and went to find Marissa.

He searched the school grounds and saw her directing the others on where to put the lanterns for tonight's festivities. She looked happy and he wasn't sure if he could talk to her about this. She looked up and spotted him. Too late. She came towards him "So I thought I wouldn't see you until after?" Marissa said.

"Yeah. Can I talk to you about something?" "Sure" she said. They walked off towards the end of the lot where no one was. "So spill" She said sitting down on a near by bench. "Okay well… you see… Okay… "He said not exactly knowing how to say this. "Ryan in order for us to talk words have to form. What's going on?" She said waiting for him to talk.

"Okay see Seth had mentioned that you might think that…" He said. "That?" She said confused. "That I was your boyfriend" Ryan spit out fast. She looked at him and laughed confused. "Okay well you did kiss me that night so… He interrupted

"Actually you kissed me" He pointed out. She laughed not believing this conversation. "Okay so I did. So what are you trying to say Ryan? Is this not what you want? Because I'm sorry I thought it was" She said starting to get defensive.

"No it's not that it's just… "He said with words not being his friend she got aggravated. "You know what just forget it. If it takes you that long to answer it says a lot" She said walking away. "Marissa" Ryan said. "You're off the hook Ryan" She said leaving him standing there. He grabbed his head with his hands and walked away.

Later that night Seth knocked on the pool house door. "Hey buddy ready to go?" He said. "I'm not going" Ryan said irritated. "So I see you talked to Marissa" Seth said.

"Yeah and I'm not one for words so she walked away angry" He said. "Ouch. Okay so fix it" Seth said. "It's not that easy Seth" Ryan said getting up. "Ryan do you like Marissa?" He said. "Of course" Ryan said.

"Well then it can be fixed man. Just tell her how you really feel" He said. Ryan thought about it. "And what if she doesn't want to listen?" He said. "At least you took a shot" Seth said. Ryan nodded. "Now come on because I'm supposed to go and coincidently bump into Summer" Seth said. "Alright" He said and with that they left.


	20. Confessions

**A/N: Just have to give a big thanks to IheartRyan thanks for your review and you my friend rock! In fact this next chapter is for you! To you other readers I'd like to hear from you so drop a note!**

**Confessions**

"So Coop this carnival just kicks ass." Summer said trying to cheer Marissa up. "Thanks Summer" She said. "Come on let's like do something. Let's go on the Ferris wheel you know it's your favorite" Summer said.

Marissa smiled but caught eyes with Ryan heading her way and she suddenly became serious. "Okay, let's go" She said knowing it was the last place he would go. So that's where they headed. Ryan followed with Seth lagging behind. He spotted them on the line. "Oh that really sucks for you man" Seth said.

He could not believe this was happening. "So what now?" Ryan said. "If you want the girl enough. You know what you have to do my friend and their next in line so you have to do it quickly" He pointed out. "Right" Ryan said racing to the front of the line.

Marissa took her place and sat down and Ryan was just in time to catch Summer by the arm. "Can I get this ride?" He said looking at Summer. Summer looked at both of them. "I'm so not getting involved. I'm gonna find Cohen to go on the tilt a whirl" She said walking away.

Ryan sat down and they went up. "I thought you didn't do Ferris wheels?" Marissa said angry. "I don't but this is important Marissa I… "He said stopping because they reached the top. "Oh jeez why did we stop?" He said panicking. She got angry.

"If your afraid then Ryan why did you come on? Because I don't have anything else to say to you" She said loudly suddenly losing her patience with him. "Because I'm not afraid of being with you. I mean I want to be with you" He said closing his eyes because the car began to rock. She looked at him shocked.

I mean she knew he liked her but up until this point she didn't really know exactly what it meant to him. "So why did you freak out before? I mean all that boyfriend/girlfriend stuff what was that?" Marissa said looking at him trying to understand.

"I just I've never been a boy friend before and I was trying to tell you that and it just came out all wrong" He said confessing. "Well that's because you clearly need to work on your words" She said slightly teasing him. "Look Marissa" He said facing in her direction with his eyes shut. "I'm sorry and I want this to work for us" He said. She looked at him.

The car began to shake again. "Oh god. I forget why did I come up here?" He said still panicking. As much as she was angry with him for what happened she just couldn't stay mad at him especially now that he laid it on the line for her. "Because you're just that stupid and because you knew this was the only way to get me to listen" She reminded him.

"Yeah something we could have done with our feet on the ground not dangling fifty feet in the air" Ryan said sarcastically. "You're really that petrified aren't you?" She said. "It's more like terrified" He said. "So try taking your mind off of it" She suggested.

"And how can I do that exactly?" He said. Marissa leaned in and kissed him. "Did that work?" She said. "I dunno we might have to try that again?" He said with a smile. He leaned in and kissed her, which was interrupted because they had to get off.

He looked at the operator and told him "we're going on again" He said. So up they went. She laughed. "You know that was your way off of this thing?" Marissa said. "You know I might be coming around on the whole Ferris wheel thing" He said with a smile. She leaned in and kissed him.

Down on the ground Summer spotted Seth. "Cohen" She said. "Summer" He said. "I didn't know you were coming" She said secretly knowing better. "Well I had to show some support for Ryan and you know I thought it was time to check this out" He said.

"You know there's tons of stuff to do here like going on the tilt a whirl. You wanna come with? Or are you afraid of heights also?" She said. He laughed. "No definitely not afraid of heights. I love the tilt a whirl lets go" He said walking with her towards the ride. "Great" She said with a smile thinking that maybe this could work between them.

A few rides later Marissa and Ryan finally exited the Ferris wheel hands intertwined with smiles on their faces. "So that was some ride. What do you want to do next?" He said smiling. She pushed a hair from her face.

"Well actually I think I've had enough of the carnival for one year" She said with a smile. "Oh so you want to go find Seth and Summer and ask if they want to hang out?" He said. "Or we could just let them have fun and just hang out ourselves" She said pulling on his jacket.

He smiled. "Alright but I gotta at least tell Seth I'm going cuz I have to give him the keys" He said. "No need I got here from Summer. So we take the car and Summer can take Seth home" She said. "Well Seth will love that" He said. "See it's like we're doing him a favor leaving him stranded" She said. He laughed. "Alright lets go" He said and with that they left.

They exited the tilt a whirl. Summer helping Seth get down. "Cohen are you okay?" she said as they exited the gate. "Yeah of course. You know everybody loves the tilt a whirl with all its tilts and whirls" He said sarcastically. She smiled. "You are so not okay Cohen. Why didn't you tell me that you didn't want to go on?" She said feeling bad for him.

"So I could add that to the list of my embarrassing faults no thanks" He said holding his stomach. She felt sad for him. "There's nothing wrong if you can't handle going on a ride. I mean I'm usually barfing right about now trust me. This would actually mark the first year that I haven't" Summer said. He smiled.

"Summer are you trying to make an excuse for me?" He said. "No, I'm just saying you don't always have to be into everything I like. I mean you're into comic books and well I'm not" She said looking at him.." Which puts the nail in the coffin. I should stop trying right now because this is never going to happen" Seth said. He dropped his head.

She looked at him. "Seth" She said. He stood up. "No Summer I'm just gonna go home enjoy the rest of your night" He said walking away. She shrugged her shoulders and smacked her head and ran after him. "Cohen wait up" She said running after him finally catching him by the gate. He turned around.

"Summer I'm not like them okay I will never be like them. I'm a loserish nerd who likes comic books and Japanese films and I could count the many friends I have on one hand. Where your popular, everybody likes you, you like to shop and go to carnivals, and pep rallies and whatever else there is to do at Harbor. Summer I will never fit in even though I like you enough to try" He said being truthful.

"I don't want you to fit in. I want you to be Cohen" She confessed. "Undesirable and unattractive?" He said. She laughed shaking her head no. "Quirky, exasperating, funny and kind because you see that's the Cohen I like" She said looking at him.

His eyes almost bulged when he looked at her. "You like me?" He said. "You heard me Cohen" She said. "Why?" He said. "I dunno but don't ruin it" Summer said shaking her head. "Right so I should just leave" Seth said turning to walk away.

She pulled on his arm. "Or you can not leave and we can go do something else, something other then the tilt a whirl" She suggested. "Like what?" He said. "Well how do you feel about skee ball?" She said with a smile.

Seth smiled. "I'm up for it" He said. She smiled and kissed him this time on the lips. She looked at him shyly.

"Good lets go Cohen" She said dragging him off to play because of course he was in shock.


	21. Expect the unexpected

**Expect the unexpected**

Back at Marissa's Ryan and Marissa were watching a movie in the living room well not so much watching as kissing when they heard the keys in the door. "That's probably Pacey" Marissa said. He got up putting some distance between them.

Pacey opened and shut the door. "Hey kids, What's going on? I thought there was a carnival at Harbor?" He said confused at having found them there. "Oh there was it just got to be too much so we just came back here" Marissa explained. "Right, because how many times can you actually go on the Ferris wheel" Pacey said. Ryan got embarrassed, "What?" He said. "Nothing it's just Ryan's afraid of heights" She said with a grin. "Hey at least I went on" Ryan said feeling like she was trying to tease him. "Way to stick up for your self man" Pacey joked.

"So where's Miss potter?" she said. "Oh there's my nosy little niece that I know and love" He said taking his jacket off." Why would he know where Miss Potter is?" Ryan said confused. "Because long story short Uncle Pacey here and Miss Potter were High school sweet hearts keep up Ryan" She said. "Okay" Ryan said. "Come on you kiss her a few weeks ago I might add and nothing. What's up with that?" She said.

"Ryan a little help here" he said looking for a way out. "It doesn't always have to be the guy to do the calling" Ryan said knowing that as soon as he said it was the wrong thing to say. Marissa glared at him.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" She said. "Well it depends on who broke up with whom. Or in this case who initiated the kiss?" Ryan said nervously. Pacey thought about it. "Hm you know that makes sense. She kissed me and I haven't heard anything from her" He said. She glared at Ryan. "Okay don't listen to Ryan just if she really means something to you talk to her" She said.

"Marissa She could have called me" Pacey said looking at her. "Oh my god do I have to spell this out for you Uncle Pacey. Joey isn't the kind of girl to take action" She said hoping to get through to him. "That's true but… She interrupted him. "No buts if you like her at all you'll call her and stop acting like such a dumb ass and face her" She said. "Or you could have to go on the Ferris wheel several times to get her back" Ryan threw in.

Pacey laughed. "You see" She said with a smile. "Okay I'll call her alright." Pacey said. "Thank you" she said. "Thanks. And how you stay with a Cooper I will never know" He said to Ryan joking. "Hey" She said pretending to be insulted. "I'm gonna be in the den working on some stuff. You guys have a nice night" he said walking out and leaving them alone for the rest of the night.

"Okay Cohen you totally rocked at Skee ball. You didn't tell me you knew what you were doing?" Summer said. "Well being into video games at a young age. I usually frequented the arcade at the mall while my mother went shopping. So I guess I had some practice" He said. She smiled.

"So you see you do like something about the carnival who knew" she said. "You're wise Summer" He said. "Why thank you. Hey you know I haven't seen Ryan or Marissa anywhere in awhile" she said suddenly scanning the crowd. "They probably bailed leaving me stranded" Seth said. "Hm then you'll probably need a ride come on" She said with a smile. "Whatever you say Summer" He said following her to the car.

The next morning Seth came into the restaurant while Marissa was working. "Hey Marissa" He said. "Cohen. What can I get you?" She said with a smile. "Nothing I just came to thank you for the whole Summer thing" He said. "She said that she liked you and kissed you didn't she?" She said.

"How did you know that?" He said. "Well because I'm just that good and because Summer called me first thing last night when she got home sort of like how you called Ryan and told him that you seriously needed to talk" She said.

"Yeah about that I'm sorry if I ruined the night for ya" He said. "No its fine actually I was already on the phone with Summer before you called him so I just told him to go. Where hanging out later" she said.

"Well thanks anyway you're a good friend" He said. "So are you Cohen. Treat her nice alright." She said with a smile. "That's not a problem so I guess I'll just see you later" He said. "Yeah" She said with a smile and headed off to clean the next table.

Ryan was on his laptop when she entered the pool house. She didn't make a noise she just plopped down on the bed next to him. She didn't even have the strength to take off her apron on the way out. "So how was work?" He said closing the computer shut and putting it aside. "I can't feel my feet" She said. He smiled.

"You know you could have went home if you're tired I would've understood" He said. "No" she said turning towards him. "Really I'm okay I just need a few minutes to recuperate" She said. "Okay and then we can do the half mile run by the pier" He said joking.

She punched him. "That's so not funny" She said. "Okay I'm sorry okay" He said. She kissed him. "So since you're too tired to go out I was thinking we could just stay here?" He said with a smile. "Yeah and just what would we do here?" She said teasing. "I was thinking more along the lines of this" He said leaning into kiss her. With that her cell phone rang.

"Uh I have to get it. It might be my uncle" She said reaching in her pocket and flipping out the cell phone. "Hello" She said. "Marissa" She heard a voice yell. She pulled herself up because the voice sent a shiver to her spine. She knew who it was even from the way she had said her name. "Grandma? What's the matter? What's wrong?" She said.

With that her grandmother started to ramble. "Wait slow down I need you to calm down and tell me what's going on?" She said. Even Ryan was worried at this point. A look of shock crossed Marissa's face. "Okay, Okay I know where he is I'll find him. We'll be there as soon as we can?" She said without thinking getting up and leaving.

Ryan ran after her. "Marissa what happened?" He said. She stopped suddenly realizing she wasn't alone. "My grandpa he had a heart attack" She said not believing the words as she was saying them. It all just seemed unreal.

"Pacey's dad?" He said. "Yeah?" She said. "Well is he going to be okay?" Ryan said concerned. "He's dead Ryan" She said not believing it herself.

"I'm sorry" He said totally clueless as to what to say to her. "I don't have time for this right now I gotta find Pacey" Marissa said suddenly.

"Well look let me drive you" He said. "No he's probably at home so I'll just go. I'm sorry" She said looking at him.

"No that's okay just go" He said.

"Okay" She said leaving quickly leaving Ryan standing there worried about her.


	22. In the face of tragedy

**In the face of tragedy**

Marissa ran all the way home praying that she would find him. She ran up the steps and threw open the door. "Uncle Pacey? You home?" She said. "Hey Marissa I thought you were gonna be at Ryan's tonight and I didn't… He stopped talking when he saw the look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He said. "Grandma called me she tried to get in touch with you but she got the machine." Marissa said. "What's going on?" He said. "It's grandpa he had a heart attack" She said slowly. "What?" he said not believing it. She shook her head telling him that everything she just said was the truth. "We gotta go I have to be there for them" He said going off towards his room. She grabbed his hand. He knew from the tug of her grip that it was bad. He looked into her eyes and knew what she was going to say.

"He's gone Uncle Pacey" She said with tears streaming down her face. He stood their shocked and pulled Marissa into a hug. "Okay so I'm gonna call Gail see if she could check on her and you go pack some stuff we might be there for a few days" He said trying to function. "Okay" She said walking away. She could tell that he was pulling away.

Pacey dialed the familiar number. "Hello" A young girl answered. "Hey lily it's Pacey is your mom around?" He said. "Hey Pacey she's not but you know you have good timing because Dawson's here. Let me get him" She said. He hadn't spoken to Dawson in a long time and this was not how he wanted to start.

"Pacey" Dawson said. "Dawson" He said. He knew him well enough to know by his tone something was off. "What's wrong?" He said. "It's my dad he had a heart attack and I'm on my way there now I was just wondering if someone could go and check on her since no Witter's are in the area." Pacey said. "Sure thing man but is he gonna be okay?" He said. "My father's dead Dawson" Pacey said letting it sink in. "I'll go right over there. Let me know when you get in alright I have my cell" Dawson said right away. "Alright thanks man" He said. "I'll see ya soon" Dawson said.

Marissa came out with two duffel bags packed. "I should probably… She interrupted. "Don't bother one of these is yours. I did it while you were on the phone" She said. "Thanks so Dawson is going to check in on grandma" He said going to grab his keys. Marissa grabbed her coat. With that they left.

There flight was pretty quick and they had landed in Cape side around eight thirty. Pacey and Marissa went towards the luggage terminal got their bags and spotted a five foot tall blonde heading in their direction. "Over here" She said. "Thanks for coming to get us Lindley" He said trying to smile but not really knowing how to in the moment. "Please we're all family" Jen said hugging him and giving him a kiss hello.

"Well look at you all grown up I hardly even recognize you" She said giving her a hug. "Hi Jen" Marissa said. "It must be all that California sun. Well come on Dawson can't wait to see you guys" She said smiling. They were at the Leery house in less than thirty minutes. Pacey closed the door. "I'm going to say hi to Lily" Marissa said. "Go ahead" Jen said as Marissa went in search of her. She helped Pacey get the bags.

"So this is a stupid question but as your friend I reserve the right to say stupid things but are you okay?" Jen said. "For the first time in my life I don't know" He said honestly not really knowing how he felt. He put the bags in the house. "Look I gotta check on my mother she interrupted. "Marissa's fine here. Here take the car" Jen said handing him the keys. "Thanks Lindley" He said.

Pacey was at his house in a matter of minutes since he lived fairly close to Dawson. He used to think it couldn't be farther but maybe that's because they we're always walking or in Joey's case rowing across to get to Dawson's. He cut the engine closed the door and went inside. "Ma" He said coming in. "Hey she's on the phone with Julie" Dawson said. "Hey man" He said. Dawson hugged him.

"How ya holding up?" He said. "For right now I'm hanging on. Thanks Dawson for being here. I know we haven't spoken in a while but…. Dawson interrupted. "Once upon a time we used to be best friends and that means I'm here for you anytime anyplace anywhere forever you do understand that don't ya? Dawson said. He looked at Dawson. He nodded. "Yeah I do" he said remembering what he had said to Dawson when Mitch had died.

"Pacey is that you?" His mother came out of the kitchen. "Hey ma" He said hugging her. "Gretchen is on her way here, but Doug he's catching a flight from Vermont, And Julie well she'll be awhile" Mrs. Witter said. "That's alright ma" He said. "How's Marissa?" She said. "She's over at the Leery's. I thought it was best if she stayed there for awhile" He said. "Sure" She said.

"Well I'm gonna go check on everyone see that everybody's eaten that sort of thing. Call if you need anything and we'll catch up when your not so busy" Dawson said. "Sure thing. Thanks Dawson" Pacey said. He left. "He's such a nice boy" She said. "Have you eaten?" He said. "I'm too tired to eat" She said. "So why don't you go upstairs take a nap? While I'm here" Pacey said.

"You were always the strong one. Okay" she said going upstairs. Pacey looked around and his childhood flashed before his eyes.

He never thought he'd be back here in this house.

When he left he thought it was for good boy was he mistaken.


	23. When you need me I'll come running

**A/N: Sorry you guys my server has been done for the past few days so I couldn't post but thank you too greenfrog for your review. The rest of you guys I don't know what happened to you? Is anyone still reading let me know. The more reviews I get the faster I update so guys let me know if you like it otherwise I won't continue.**

**When you need me I'll come running**

Dawson opened the front door. "Hello" He said. "Dawson hey" Jen said kissing him.(note Dawson spent sometime in LA but returned to cape side and currently was a film teacher at the high school and is also currently dating Jen who had moved back to capeside after grams had passed a year ago). "So how is everything you guys ate yet?" He said. "I ordered a pizza it should be here in a few minutes. How's Pacey?" She said.

"He's messed up right now" He said. "I called Andie but she can't fly she is in her third trimester. Jack can't make it either he's at some meeting in Colorado" she said. "Great the only one missing is Joey" He said. "Not exactly" Marissa said from behind them. "What do you mean?" Dawson said. "I know where to find her." Marissa said. "But how?" Jen said confused. "Long story short she's my guidance counselor at school and Pacey went to a meeting not realizing it was her and he found Joey" She said.

"Wow" Dawson said. "So does she know about this?" Jen said. "No but I called Ryan and he's going to tell her tomorrow at school" Marissa said. "Ryan?" He said. "Her boyfriend" Jen said to Dawson. "Just one thing don't tell Pacey I called her. He kind of hates leaning on people even when he needs too" Marissa said. "You got it" Dawson said. "Jen you think you can drive me home?" Marissa said. "You must be hungry?" She said. "Not really I'm just worried about him. I promise I'll grab something at Grandma's" She said. "Okay get your coat" She said.

Marissa opened the door quietly and waved to Jen and shut the door. The sound of the door took Pacey from his thoughts. He looked up. "Hey" She said quietly. "Hey Kiddo. What are you doing here?" He said. Marissa walked over to him and sat next to him on the couch and she leaned in to it.

"I wanted to see if Gram was okay and I wanted to see if you were taking care of yourself?" She said looking at him. He smiled and put his arm around her. "Yeah you know me" He said. "Which is exactly why I know you haven't eaten so I called for pizza before I came in they'll be here in ten minutes" She said. He kissed her forehead. "Thank you" Pacey said. They heard floor boards creak and new that she was up. "I better see if she's alright" He said going to get up.

"No let me do it besides who's going to pay for the pizza if you do it?" She said joking. He laughed. "Alright" He said. She ran up the stairs. She pushed her hair back and walked towards the master bedroom. She went in and slightly knocked.

"Gram" She said. "Marissa sweet heart come in" She said. "Hi" She said giving her a hug. "Look at you you're all grown up. That Son of mine has really taken care of you" She said. "Yeah he has" Marissa said with a small smile. She noticed a photo album was out. "So what are you doing?" Marissa said. "Oh I was just looking at some photos of when me and your grandpa was young" She said.

"It's okay to miss him" Marissa said holding onto her arm. "I'm gonna be okay. How are you doing?" She said. "I'm okay" Marissa said. "Your grandpa loved you, you know" She said. "He loved you to you know" Marissa said. She nodded and they continued to look through some more albums until she was tired and then Marissa went back down stairs only to find Pacey not there but the Pizza was. So she grabbed two plates and two slices and two cans of coke and headed upstairs to his old room where she knew he would be.

She knocked. He turned noticing her presence. "How's gram?" He said. "She's asleep. I noticed you didn't eat here" She said. "I'm not really all that hungry" He said. "Well there are poor people out there who would give anything to eat so you have to eat it" Marissa said. He took it. "You know you drive a hard bargain" He said. "I learn from the best" She said eating in silence.

When she finished she wanted to talk to him. "Uncle Pacey?" She said. "Yeah?" He said looking at her. "I know you and Pop were at odds most of the time but are you going to be okay after this?" She said looking at him seriously. He sadly looked at her. "Yeah don't worry about me I'll be fine. You know aunt Gretchen is coming tomorrow so you should get some sleep" He said going to get up. "But where are you going to sleep?" She said. "I'm not tired but I'll be on the couch if you need me" He said. "Good night" She said. "Night" He said leaving. She was worried about him.

The next morning Ryan was at school he wasted no time and went straight towards Ms Potter's office. "I'm here to see Ms. Potter" He said. "Do you have an appointment?" She said. "Well no." He said. "Then I'm sorry it'll have to wait" She said. "It's okay Jenny. Ryan you can come in" She said. She followed him in. "You can sit if you like" She said. He sat. "So what's up?" She said. "I'm here for Marissa" He said. "Is she okay?" She said.

"She's fine but she asked me to relay a message to you. I don't know how to exactly say this but Mr. Witter's father had a heart attack so they flew back to Cape side yesterday" He said. "Is he going to be okay?" She said concerned. Ryan looked at her sadly. "He's dead" He said.

"Do you know when the funeral is?" She said shocked. "It's a little sketchy right now but arraignments were being made today" He said. She intercommed Jenny. "Jenny hold all of my appointments until further notice" Joey said. Why what's wrong?" She said. "There's been a death in the family" She said grabbing her coat. "Ryan thanks for telling me" She said. "Don't thank me just make sure Marissa's okay" He said. "I will" She said. They both left and she shut the door behind her.

Getting out of the terminal she wondered if they knew Pacey had found her. Of course not if anything that would be the last thing Pacey would be thinking about. If anything they connected the dots through Marissa. She grabbed her luggage and started to exit the terminal. Who she saw nearly shocked her. She had to catch her breath. And then he smiled and started walking towards him.

"Hey Joey" He said. "Hey Dawson" She said nervously. She hugged him. "It's good to see ya Jo" He said with a smile. "How did you know?" She said with a nervous grin. "Ryan Called Marissa told her you were coming. So I used my fancy flirting skills and bribed the operator to tell me what flight you were on" He said. "Sneaky I like it" She said joking. He smiled.

"It's not gonna be easy" He said. "Nothing ever is when it comes to John and Pacey Witter. We just got to remember to be there for him like he was there for us" She said sadly. "Well come on Jen's anxious to see you" He said. "It's good to be home Dawson" She said. "Well it's good to have you back. Hopefully we'll never lose touch again" He said. "You got it" She said and with that they left the airport.

Joey had opted to go to the Leery's. Dawson had even offered her one of the guest rooms to sleep in. "Hello" Dawson said with that came a running Jen. "Okay Leery where did you hide her" She said. Joey stepped in with a smile. "Joey Potter where the hell have you been?" She said. "I don't know but I'm home now" She said hugging her.

"You bet your ass you are" Jen said. "Come on in to the living room" Dawson said. She hung her coat on the rack and started for the living room. The telephone rang. "I'll get it" Dawson said.

Joey looked around it was a little different but not unfamiliar. She remembered the stairs and the door and different moments that occurred in this house. Dawson hanging up the phone broke her from her thoughts. She looked towards him.

"That was Pacey he wanted some one to come over and keep an eye on things until he got back from talking with the minister "He said. "I'll go you guys have probably had a night from hell already" She said. "Here's the keys" He said handing them to her. She grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

She was in front of the Witter home in a few minutes. When she got out of the car she stared at it. Everything looked the same she was more frightened at how the person behind the door would be different since their last encounter.

Joey knew this was going to be difficult but she wasn't going to give up so easily. She walked up the front steps. She took a breath and knocked gently. Marissa answered and a smile formed to her face. "He's upstairs" She said. "Thanks for getting me the message" Joey said. Marissa nodded.

Joey walked towards the steps and climbed them heading towards Pacey's old bed room. The door was open and he was looking out the window. She tapped gently. "Leave it up to Marissa to scheme a way for you to get here" He said knowing it was Joey. "Well she was worried and I wanted to see you so deal with it" She said coming in.

Pacey looked up at her. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that" He said. "I know you didn't" She said understanding how hard this was for him having been there before. He got up and went over towards the window. "I dunno if I can do this" He confessed. She listened. "I don't know if I can do any of it" He said slowly starting to break.

She walked over and grabbed his hand and looked up at him. "So then we'll do it together just like we always did and just like we always will" Joey reminded him. He was teary eyed. She hugged him. "Thanks for coming" He whispered. "For you anything" She said. Pacey smiled sadly.

A few minutes later Pacey broke the silence. "So I guess he knows you're here?" he said. "Yeah Marissa told Dawson and Jen. He met me at the airport" She said. "I suppose he wants to kick my ass for not telling him" He said. "I think he understands why I did what I did so I think your ass is safe." She said joking.

"Right you were friends for as long as you can walk anyways" He said. "I should go I gotta get to the church." He said. "Did Gretchen get in yet?" She said. "Yeah she just ran to get Doug from the airport so I needed someone to stay here in case Marissa can't handle it" He said. "Of course well go and do what you have to do" She said.

"Okay I'll only be a few minutes" He said putting his coat on but neglecting to zip it up. "Wait this isn't Orange county Witter Here in Capeside you catch colds quick" She said joking zippering his coat. "Thanks mom" He said sarcastically. She smiled. "Alright I'll be back" He said leaving. "Okay" She said watching him leave.


	24. The only one I want to talk too

**The only one I want to talk too.**

That day at school Ryan was alone in the quad thinking about Marissa. He was worried about her and how she was handling all of this. Summer snapped him out of his thoughts. She slammed her books down on the table and sat across from him. "Marissa totally blew me off this morning for breakfast I waited for her but she never showed. So Atwood start explaining. What's going on?" She said.

"Summer Marissa went back to Cape side last night for her grandfather. He had a heart attack and he died" He said. "Oh my god. Poor Coop. Is she okay?" She said concerned. "I don't know I talked to her for barely a few minutes since she left. You know she only keeps telling me that she's worried about her uncle and how he's taking it" He said.

"So what can we do?" She said feeling helpless. "I don't know be there when she gets back I guess. I mean that's all we can do for now" Ryan said. His cell rang. He checked the number. He looked at Summer. "It's Marissa's Uncle." He said. He picked up. "Hello?" Ryan said.

"Ryan I wanted to talk to you about something?" Pacey said. "Okay what's up?" He said. "I know it's asking a lot but I was just wondering if you could be here for the funeral tomorrow. I mean I'm gonna be pretty busy and I can't be there for her as much as I'd like to be. So I just thought you'd the best person for the job" Pacey said. "Yeah umm sure however I can help I just have to ask Sandy first" He said.

"Not a problem I knew you would say that so I went ahead and confirmed it with Sandy now your tickets are waiting at the gate. It's a 4 am flight. I hope that's okay?" He said. "Yeah sure but tickets?" Ryan said confused. "Oh sorry I just figured you could bring Seth and Summer which by the way I also cleared it with her dad this morning. So if you can tell her that would be great" He said.

"Yeah sure that's not a problem. She's actually with me right now" Ryan said nodding. Summer looked at him waiting for answers. "Alright thanks Ryan for everything" He said. "Mr. Witter I'm really sorry" Ryan said. "Thanks. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow and don't worry somebody will be there to pick you guys up. But just one more thing don't tell Marissa" He said. "Okay" Ryan said.

"Alright take care Ryan" He said hanging up. Ryan shut his cell and stayed quiet. "Hello earth to Ryan what did he say?" She said. "He said he wants us to be there for the funeral tomorrow" He said. "Okay well that's how we can help" Summer said.

"Yeah um he cleared it with your dad and with Sandy and the flights for four am so that's pretty much it" He said. "Okay then we have to tell Seth" She said. "Yeah he's in the library" He said. "Well I'll go tell him and I'll call you guys later to see when we should leave" She said. "Okay" He said. She left heading towards the library. He looked down at his cell and thought this was one surprise Marissa would never guess. He smiled feeling a little better he could be there for her and then he went off to finish the rest of the day at school.

Pacey got home hours later. It turns out it funerals are much harder to plan then he thought. He closed the car door and stumbled up the porch steps. He noticed the mail in the mail box so he grabbed it and headed in. He opened and then shut the door behind him. "I thought that was my little brother" Doug said coming to greet Pacey. He smiled. "What's going on Doug?" He said. He hugged him. "It's good to see you little brother" Doug said.

Pacey smiled there relationship had gotten better over the years. "Yeah it's good to see you to bro" He said. Just then Joey came down the stairs. "Hey" Pacey said. "Good your back. I think your mom needs one of you" She said looking in their direction.

"Okay I'll go" Pacey said. Doug stopped him. "No please you've been doing plenty let me try" He said going up the stairs. Pacey pushed his hand through his hair anxiously. "I'm sorry it took so long" Pacey said. "That's not a problem besides there's not much to do in Cape side anyways" She said. "Right" He said. She nodded.

"So where's Marissa?" He said. "Um well Julie called she'll be in by tonight she's upstairs maybe you can talk to her" Joey said. "Alright yeah she's not bringing Jimmy is she?" He said. "I think she told Gretchen he couldn't make it" She said. "Great one less thing that's gonna cause drama. I'm gonna" He said. "Yeah sure" She said.

He ran up the stairs. He walked down the hallway to the guest room where he saw her just sitting on the bed deep in thought. Pacey leaned against the door. "Hey kiddo" He said. "Hi. Did you get everything?" She said. "Well for now yes. So Joey told me that your mom called" He said sitting next to her. "Yeah I know its mean but I've been praying that she would flake out on Gram and Pop so I didn't have to deal with her "She said.

"It's not mean its how you feel?" He said. "I guess but I don't think I can handle staying under the same roof with her" Marissa said hoping that he would understand. "Okay well look I have to stay here for Gram and obviously your mom is gonna stay here so I'll ask Dawson if it's cool if you could crash at his house. I'm sure it won't be a problem" He said. She nodded. "Thanks." She said putting her head down.

"Marissa you know you can talk to me" Pacey said looking at her. "I'm fine" She said brushing him off. "But if you weren't that would be okay too" He said reminding her. She looked at him. "It would be okay for you too you know?" She said.

He laughed at her sneakiness. "How'd you get to be so smart?" He said throwing his arm around her in a hug. "I don't know I guess it comes naturally" She said. "You talk to Ryan?" He said. "Barely last night" She said. He nodded.

"Why don't you come downstairs? You know Joey's there and Gretchen should be back from the store any minute now" He said. She nodded. "Okay" She said. They heard crying as they walked out of the room. Marissa looked at Pacey. "You should see if Uncle Doug needs help" She said. He smiled sadly and walked towards the crying. She went downstairs.

She went into the kitchen and saw that Gretchen had returned and it looked as if she and Joey were cooking. "Hey can I help?" Marissa said. Gretchen stopped what she was doing and hugged her. "Oh my god Marissa look at you. If it's possible I think you get prettier every time I see you" She said with a smile. Marissa smiled shyly.

"Thanks" Marissa said. Marissa looked sad. "You okay kiddo?" Gretchen said. Joey broke the silence. "You know Marissa there's still the salad you can help with" Joey said trying to break the tension. She nodded thanking Joey silently. Joey could tell she was going to be alright but how many are you alright's can a person take? If she was going to open up to anyone it would be Pacey or Ryan. That was just the kind of person she was. Marissa started working on the salad.

Back in orange county. Ryan had finished packing after dinner and Seth walked in. "Hey man I just wanted to see if you were all set?" Seth said. Ryan was sitting on the bed. He nodded. "Did you talk to Marissa?" He said. "No but you know she's probably busy" Ryan said. "Or maybe she's waiting for your call." Seth said. He thought about it. "I'm gonna catch some sleep Summer said she'd be here at three" He said leaving. Ryan collected himself and grabbed his cell pondering if he should call her.

He decided why not it was late where she was so chances where she was alone thinking by herself. He knew from experience that being alone wasn't something you wanted to do at a time like this. It was seven here so it was like ten or eleven there so he took a shot and dialed.

Marissa was sitting on the porch waiting for Joey to get back to pick her up. She was spending the night at Dawson's. Her phone rang. She took it from her pocket and smiled when she saw who was calling her. She flipped it open. "Hey" She said a smile forming on her face.

"Hey so I just wanted to call you know check in" He said. Marissa laughed a little knowing he was calling to see if she was okay but didn't want to say it. They just clicked like that so Marissa knew what he was thinking. "I'm not fine Ryan" She said sadly looking towards the floor.

He wished he could be there right now after what she had just admitted to him. "I know you aren't but you should talk to somebody about it you know" He said. "The only one I want to talk about it with is you because lets face it Pacey is just not an option right now. He's too messed up dealing with everything and I can't do that to him" She said crying a little.

"Well I know it's not much but I'm here whenever you need me okay" Ryan said. "It's more then you know actually and I love you for it" She said. His head snapped when she said that and he smiled. Nobody had ever really said they loved him besides the Cohen's it was kind of weird for him. This would be the first time Marissa had said it. She didn't make a big deal out of it because to him it seemed like she didn't even realize that she had said it.

"I wish I could be there for you" He said. "I know but this counts you don't even how much it counts" She said. "Right. So is your mom there?" he said. "She's coming which is why I'm not staying here tonight I'm staying at the Leery's" Marissa said. "Marissa" He said. "Yeah" She said. "We'll get through this together" He said.

She smiled sadly and then a car pulled up. She thought it was Joey. It turns out it was actually Julie. "I know we will. Listen Ryan I have to go. I think Joey's here but I'll call you tomorrow okay" She said. "Sure Call me whenever you want I'm serious" He said. "I know you are and thanks for calling. Goodnight" "Night" he said. She smiled hanging up. Ryan was always there for her. She looked up expecting to see Joey it turns out it was actually Julie. She just sat there. "Marissa" Julie said. "Mom" She said looking at her surprised.


	25. When it all gets too much to take

**A/N: Many thanks to green frog for keeping my spirits going it seems that your the only reader right now. If there's more of you I'd like to here from you but it's nice to know I have you Green frog so this update is for you!**

**When it all gets too much to take**

"Marissa" Julie said. "Mom" She said. She stayed quiet. Julie noticed her bag beside her. "Where are you going? Aren't you staying here at grandmas?" She said. "No Joey should be by to pick me up" She said. "Marissa look I… Which enraged Marissa she got up and interrupted her" No you don't get to do this here. This is about Pop it's not about you or how you feel" Marissa said angry that she would do this here.

"Please listen to me" Julie said "Oh like you listened to me. I'm done listening to you. I'm just done" Marissa said tears falling freely. Pacey interrupted coming out hearing the yelling. "Julie" He said. "Pacey if you don't mind I'd like to talk to Marissa" She said.

"Well I'm through talking to you" Marissa said. He put an arm on her back to calm her down. "Look Julie everybody's upset and this isn't the time" He reminded her. With that Joey honked the horn. Marissa grabbed her bag. "Go on" He said looking at her.

She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you" She said quietly into his shoulder. He smiled. "I love you too" He said. She pulled away and started to walk down the steps. "I'll see you tomorrow" She said leaving not saying anything to Julie. Joey pulled away. He looked at Julie. "Come on mom's been waiting to see you" He said. She went in after him.

Ryan, Seth and Summer had arrived at the airport and had boarded. A few hours later they were just landing at the local airport. They went to grab there bags. "Oh my god Summer we were only going to be away for a night so what's with the heavy bag?" He said.

"Shut up Cohen" She said. "Come on you guys we have to meet Mr. Witter at the entrance" Ryan said. They followed him. Ryan spotted him and waved Pacey walked up to them. "Hey you guys I'm glad you made it" Pacey said. "Thanks for picking us up" Ryan said. "Mr. Witter I'm so sorry" Summer said hugging him. "Yeah me too" Seth said. "Thanks you guys. So let's get out of here" He said. They followed. They arrived within no time.

He dropped them off at the Leery's where Marissa was. Ryan hung back. "You know Mr. Witter. I know what it's like to lose a parent. The only difference is mine chose to leave and they're both physically alive. It was difficult but you know when things get bad now there's always someone I can call. I'm sure you have someone like that too" Ryan said looking at him.

He thought about what he said. "Yeah I do. Thanks Ryan" Pacey said. "Well I guess I'll see you later" He said. "Yeah and Ryan?" Pacey said. He looked at Pacey. "It's Pacey Okay?" He said with a smile. He nodded. "Alright" Ryan said closing the door and heading inside. Joey had met them inside and had introduced them to everyone while Ryan excused himself quickly when he learned that Marissa was upstairs getting ready. So he went to check on her.

She looked in the mirror. This was certainly going to be hard. It was bad enough her mother was here but she had always loved her grandpa. They had a connection.

A memory flashed in her mind. She was like thirteen and she had spent Christmas with them. After dinner he had called her in to the den to talk to her.

_ "You know young lady I think your turning out to be a fine young lady. You know you have spunk and humor" He said with a smile. She smiled. "You know you're just like that Uncle of yours" He said. "Uncle Pacey?" She said. _

_ "Yeah he was always laughing and cracking jokes, but he was respectful, kind, caring always looking out for everybody else. The boy has a heart like you and don't you lose site of that ya hear. Because people like you and your uncle are one of a kind you don't come around often" He said with a smile. _

_ "You know what Pop I think you should tell him that" She said. "Nah he's grown up and it's to late now. I wouldn't even know how to say it" He said._

_ "It's never too late and you could always start by telling him everything you just told me" She said. "I don't think I could come out with the words" He said. "You could always write him a letter" She said. "You know you're a smart girl don't ya?" He said. She smiled. "I love you Pop" She said. "I love you too sweet heart" He said._

And then just like that her memory was broken and she stood looking at her reflection in sadness.

A few stray tears slipped down her face. A knock was heard from the other side of the door. She cleared her throat dried her tears and straightened herself out. "Come in" She said. The door knob turned and the door opened. Marissa wasn't really paying attention she was just grabbing her shoes from the bedside.

She assumed it was Joey coming to get her. "I'm almost ready I know we're supposed to be early" She said putting her shoes on. "I think you still got time" He said. She knew that voice. She turned towards him and looked up in disbelief.

"Ryan" she said getting up and practically strangling him with a hug to show her excitement. "I told you I was here for you" Ryan said. "But how did you?" She said smiling when she realized who did get him here. He knew she knew. "You know I'm not the only one Summer and Seth are downstairs" Ryan said.

She was swept up in emotion when she thought about how good her friends were. She smiled sadly. "You must be missing school for this" She said. "This is more important" He said looking at her. She smiled sadly. "Well I guess it's time to go" Marissa said. He held out his hand she grabbed it. He kissed her. "You ready?" he said. She nodded.

And they left to meet the others. They walked down the stairs and Marissa was immediately attacked by Summer's hug. "Oh my god Coop! Are you okay" She said looking at her. She looked at Ryan for a second and turned her glance back to Summer. "Yeah I'm gonna be fine now that you guys are here" She said. "Hi Marissa" Seth said. She hugged him. "Thanks for coming Seth. Really you guys are great" She said looking at them.

Ryan smiled. "Marissa the car's here?" Joey said coming into the foyer. "Okay" She said. "You guys can come with me" Joey said to Seth and Summer. "We'll see you there Coop" She said hugging her. "Yeah" She said. Her and Seth walked away. Ryan grabbed her hand. "Come on" He said. And they went towards the car.

When they got to the church she noticed her Uncle Pacey outside. She hugged him. "Hi" She said. "Hey" He said. He nodded at Ryan who stood off to the side. "So thanks" She said. "For what?" He said winking. She smiled and hugged him again.

"I gotta go see Gram" He said grabbing her hand and then walking away. The service was starting and they had to take their seats. Ryan sat with her. She looked towards her uncle during the service and he just looked lost.

When they reached the cemetery he looked even worse. Joey sensed it since she came over and stood right next to him and grabbed his hand. Marissa cried and Ryan comforted her.

When the service was over everyone went back to the cars but Marissa noticed that Pacey stood there. She was with Joey and Ryan. "I'll go you guys go. We'll see you back at the house" Joey said walking towards him. "Come on Marissa" Ryan said grabbing her hand and leading her back to the car.


	26. learning to let go

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates its just school has started up again for me. I hope to be able to update more real soon! Reviews always welcome! To my faithful reviewers your the best!**

**Learning to let go**

He stood there silently. "So just like that it's over" He said with a sigh. "He loved you Pacey you know that" She told him. He nodded. "There's just a lot of stuff we didn't get to talk about and" he couldn't finish he was breaking. She put her arm on his back.

"Hey I know its hard now. But you know eventually you'll find peace you just have to start slowly" She said. He looked at her. "Your not going to tell me like everyone else that I'll get over it "He said.

"No because unlike those people I know that's pure crap. He's your father Pacey and unfortunately you won't get over this it'll stay with you forever. Just like it did when I lost my mother but eventually you have to let yourself grieve in order to heal. This is not something you just get over it takes time" she said.

He nodded. "Yeah, Thanks Joey" He said. "Come here" She said hugging him. "I'm glad you're here" He said softly. "Me too" She said with a smile. "Are you ready to go?" She said looking at him.

"Yeah" He said slowly starting to walk away she was walking next to him and he grabbed her hand. She smiled and kept going.

They all went back to Pacey's old house. Gretchen was with their mom. Doug was off in a corner taking some of the condolscences and Julie was standing there staring at Marissa who was interacting with a kid she didn't recognize.

She seemed happy. "His name's Ryan" Pacey said sneaking up next to her. "It looks like she's happy" She assumed judging from the site of her daughter. He looked at her grinning at Ryan. "That's because she is" He said.

"You know I didn't mean to screw up like that. I do love her" Julie said. He looked at her. "I know you do but she doesn't. It just takes time Jules" He said leaving her by herself.

She looked at Marissa again. Marissa met her eyes and she saw the look. The same scared alone look she saw that night that she sent her off to live with Pacey. She had to fix this.

Joey walked up to Pacey. "Can I get you anything?" She said. He smiled. "Yeah could you try and keep Julie from causing a scene" Pacey said kidding. "I think that's in your area of expertise" She said. "She said she loves Marissa" He said.

"So what did you say?" Joey said. "That she's telling the wrong person" He said. She smiled. "Let's hope she doesn't do enough damage to get you in another fist fight" She said. "Well Jimmy isn't here so that's a plus" Pacey said.

She laughed. He looked at her and thought about that night and smiled. She noticed him staring. "What?" She said. He continued to smile. "Nothing" He said. She looked at him. "I'm going to go find Dawson" She said. He nodded.

Ryan and Marissa were outside. "So when do you have to leave?" She said. "The flights for tomorrow afternoon but you know you'll be home soon" He said trying to cheer her up pulling on his tie that hung loosely around his neck.

"Yeah and then we can get back to life" She said kidding. "You okay?" He said. "I think for the first time in a long time I'm gonna be okay" She said with a smile. She kissed him. "Good" He said with a smile. She laughed.

"Marissa" Julie said breaking their moment. She turned and acknowledged her. It was a little uneasy. "Hi you must be Ryan" She said sticking out her hand. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Cooper" He said shaking her hand without a second thought.

"I heard a lot about you" Julie said seeming genuine to Ryan. "Really when the time that you didn't call me?" She said angry. Ryan looked at her. "Marissa" he said. "No don't protect her" Marissa said staring at him. "Ryan could you excuse us?" Julie said. He looked at Marissa to get a response. She nodded letting him know it was okay to go so he walked away.

"What do you want mom?" She said. "I want to talk to you. I want to see how you're doing? I want to know what's been going on in your life?" Julie said. She laughed insulted. "Really well you sure have a funny way of showing it" Marissa said with her arms crossed.

"Marissa I know I've done some things and I know I've hurt you but I do want to know what's going on with you? I do love you. I mean to be honest that's why I sent you to live with Pacey" she said.

"Yeah so you can get rid of me" Marissa said. "No. So you could have a better life one that you deserve and one that I couldn't give you" Julie said. Marissa looked at her. "I'm truly sorry Marissa. I just want you to talk to me" She said crying a little. Marissa was crying.

"You know what it's just not going to be that easy for you" Marissa said walking away. Julie grabbed her head. This was going to be harder then she thought watching Marissa walk away.

Ryan found her by the dock. "She has some nerve coming here and just expecting me to forgive her. It doesn't work that way" she said yelling feeling nothing but anger towards Julie. "I'm sorry" She said. "No don't be" He said.

She wiped the tears from her face. "I just want to move on and forget about all of it" She said.

"Then you know what you have to do in order to move on" He said looking at her. She nodded. "Yeah" She said quietly and hugged him. He kissed the top of her forehead and she smiled at him.

Pacey was checking in on his mom. She went upstairs to rest. He knocked. "Ma? Your awake" He said coming in and closing the door. "Yeah I was just going through some of your father's things" she said. "Pop was a bit of a junk collector wasn't he" He said laughing a little sitting next to her.

She smiled. "Yeah he was. Everything was important to him" She said. He nodded. "Even telling you how he feels" She said. He looked at her oddly. She got up and went over to the top drawer and pulled out an envelope and sat back down next to him.

"I found it last night with some of his things" She said handing it to him. He took it and looked at it. His name was scrolled across the front in scribbly handwriting that resembled his which could only mean his father wrote it.

That was the one thing they had in common their handwriting was so similar. "You're a good boy and you should be proud of the person that you are. I know I love you for it" She said. He smiled. "I love you too ma" He said hugging her.

"Now go on Joey's probably looking for you" She said. He smiled. "Joey huh?" Pacey said. "She's a wonderful woman Pacey I hope it works out for you" She said. He nodded. "Thanks ma" He said. "Now go on" She said. "I'll be back to check on you later" He said leaving.

After the guests had gone she looked for him. She figured he was upstairs. "Hey you disappeared" Joey said coming in. She noticed an envelope in his hands. He looked at her. She sat next to him.

"What's that?" She said. "Another surprise from my father" He said looking at her sadly. She nodded. "You going to read it?" She said. "I was debating whether or not too open it. He said. "What did you come up with?" She said.

He changed the subject. "My mother said she hopes it works out for us" He said. She looked at him. "You mean you and me" She said understanding him. "Yeah" he said looking at her. She looked down. "I should have called I know I should have I just he interrupted "I love you" He said looking into her eyes.

She was shocked she didn't expect that not like this. She smiled sadly. "Even after everything I did to you?" She said. "And everything you've done for me" He said nodding. She started to cry a little.

"I made a mistake I should have never left you behind" She said. "Mistakes can be fixed" He said. She looked at him he was being serious he leaned in and kissed her.

She rested her forehead on his and smiled. "I love you too" She said. He smiled. "Well you know I kind of figured you did" He said teasing. She laughed.

"Come on lets see what he had to say" She said grabbing his hand. "Here it goes" He said tearing open the envelope.

She found Julie on the porch later that night. "Sweetie" She said acknowledging Marissa. "Look I want to get over this and I want to put this all behind me. I don't want to live like this anymore" she said. Julie looked at her.

"Marissa you have to know that I never wanted you to be hurt" She said. "But that's just it I am. And you can't undo it with an apology. What happened to me I wouldn't wish on anyone and I didn't deserve it mom" Marissa said.

"I know" She said looking at her. "Do you? Do you know? Do you know how hard it's been for me? Did you know that it took months after I moved with Pacey for me to even talk about it with anyone else? No you didn't know any of it because you never tried to know" Marissa said.

"I know that Marissa" She said. "Okay so you're sorry and you never wanted me to get hurt. Is there anything else? Is there anything left for you to say to me?" She said looking her in the eye. "I love you and if you can't see past your hurt then it's my fault I guess" Julie said this time walking away from Marissa.

Marissa closed her eyes. She was alone. Summer came out. "Coop? You okay?" She said sitting next to her. "Yeah it's just stuff with my mother" Marissa said. "Didn't go so well?" Summer said, "Not really" She said.

"Hey you have me you know that right?" Summer said. She smiled. "Thanks Sum" Marissa said. "Sorry to break this up but Jen offered to give us a ride back to the house" Seth said. "That's okay" She said. "You gonna come Coop?" Summer said.

"No I think I'm gonna stay here tonight but you go ahead you have a flight in the afternoon and you probably want to get some rest" Marissa said. "You sure?" Seth said.

"Positive, you guys thanks for coming here your great friends" Marissa said. "Well Coop promise me that we'll see you tomorrow before we take off" She said.

"Of course we'll spend the morning together and of course I'm coming to drive you to the airport" Marissa said hugging her. "Okay night" Summer said. "Night Sum, Cohen" Marissa said. He waved good-bye. She watched them go and she went in the house.

Pacey was coming down the stairs. She looked at him. He looked like he had recently been crying. "So thank you" Pacey said. "For what?" Marissa said. "For giving pop the insight to write me that letter" He said.

She remembered and smiled. "Well if a person says such nice things they should hear it don't you think?" Marissa said. "Yeah so he compared you to me?" He said.

"Yeah but don't get a big head or anything. I know it's tough to follow my act" She said joking. He laughed. "I love you Marissa" He said. "I love you too" She said. He smiled.

"She does to you know" He said looking towards Julie sitting alone on the couch. She looked that way. "I know and if I want to get over this I'm going to have to make this right aren't I?" Marissa said.

"Afraid so kiddo?" He said. "Okay so here it goes" Marissa said walking towards her. He smiled and walked away. "I'm sorry about before." Marissa said. Julie nodded.

"I love you and I want what's best for you" She said. "I know that" Marissa said. "Ryan looks like a good kid" Julie said. She looked at her. "He's been great to me" Marissa said.

"Well you deserve that kind of love" She said. "I know it's not gonna be easy but we can try okay?" Marissa said. She smiled sadly. "Okay Marissa" She said hugging her. "I love you too mom" She whispered.


	27. when everything is said and done

**A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers and keep those reviews coming the faster I receive comments the more I'm more enlightened to update.**

**When everything is said and done.**

Pacey went into the kitchen and found Joey there. "Hey I thought you might have gone back to Dawson's" He said. "No I stayed behind. Besides Ryan didn't want to leave Marissa tonight and I didn't want to leave you" She said looking at him.

He smiled. He kissed her. "They are at least sleeping in separate room's right? I don't need to have a migraine over this." He said kidding. "Yea Marissa's in the guest room with Julie and Gretchen and Ryan's got the couch" She said laughing. "Good. One less thing I have to handle" He said.

She smiled. "Don't be such a worrier" She said. Dawson came into the kitchen. "Hey man I'm going to head out help my mom out with the extra guests" He said. "Yeah sure." He said with a smile. "But listen what do you think about doing breakfast together tomorrow morning at the house?" He said. He looked at Joey. "That sounds great" He said.

"Yeah" She said. "Great so I'll see you guys tomorrow" Dawson said. "Hey Dawson?" He said. He turned looking at Pacey. "Thanks for being here man" He said. "What are friends for Pace" He said walking away.

She smiled. "Wow I'm impressed when I left you guys weren't all that close. I see you worked on that" She said. "Yeah well when you left there wasn't many people to bond with so we gave it a shot of course it took place over the phone. We just recently lost touch but as you can see it doesn't look like it hurt our friendship all that much" He said. "I'm glad" She said.

"That was the one thing you've always wanted for us" Pacey said. She nodded. "That's true" She said. He smiled. "So does Dawson know about us?" She said. "Well what about us?" Pacey said teasing.

"Be serious" She said. "Yeah he knows" He said. "Okay" she said. "You know for the record I didn't really care if he does know or not I just wanted to know if there was an us" She said. He laughed. "That was sneaky Potter" He said. "I know. So there is an us then?" She said. He smiled. "What do you think?" He said.

He leaned into kiss her but she stopped him. "You get no more kisses until you tell me" She said. "Jo that was my way of telling you way to ruin the moment" He said. She laughed at her stupidity. "Never mind" She said laughing. "Okay then" He said and he kissed her again.

But in walked Marissa. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry" She said turning away. They both turned and looked at her. He laughed. "It's okay Maris" He said. Marissa was embarrassed.

"I'm gonna go" she said walking back out of the kitchen. Joey turned and looked at him. "Congratulations I think you just mortified your niece. As long as I don't mortify you then its all good" He said kidding. She playfully hit him. He smiled. "I was kidding" He said.

Marissa shook her head as she left the kitchen. She saw Ryan sitting on the couch. She sat next to him "Hey where you been?" She said. "Just wanted to give you some space" Ryan said. "Right" She said. "So how'd it go?" He said.

"Okay I guess it's definitely going to be a while before I can actually forgive and forget but you know it takes time" Marissa said with a smile. He smiled. "Words to live by" He said. "Yes they are? So what's this about you not spending the night at the Leery's? She said teasing him.

"Oh I just thought since I'm leaving tomorrow that we could spend time together and it would be better if I stayed here. I could leave if you want?" He suggested. "Does it look like I want you to leave?" She said. He smiled.

"No" He said. "That's right" She said resting her head on his shoulder. "So do you know when you're coming home?" He said. She smiled. "Why do you miss me already?" She said teasing grabbing his hand and enclosing it with hers. He laughed. "Sunday I think" She said. He nodded. She was falling asleep.

Back at the leery manor Seth laid awake on the floor while Summer laid a few feet away in the guest bedroom. "It's too quiet Cohen say something" Summer said breaking the silence. "I wonder how Ryan leaving tomorrow is going to effect Marissa" he said leaning up.

She shrugged. "But she'll be back in time for school on Monday so it might be a little weird but they'll get through it" she said. "Listen Summer about Kick off carnival I just wanted she interrupted. "Seth look can we just table that conversation for right now. I just with everything that's been going on with Marissa I just feel like we shouldn't discuss this not here." She said looking at him.

"No of course not so maybe when we get back to New Port" Seth said feeling shot down. "Not maybe Cohen it's a promise. You do know what promise is right?" She said teasing him. Which made Seth laugh. "Yeah I do" He said.

"Okay then since that's over with you know I'm sure there's something on tv that we could watch" She said. "Sounds like a plan" he said. Summer flickered the remote. "Any Suggestions?" she said. "Nothing with drama please" Seth said. "Well said so something like a comedy would suit us" she said checking stations.

Summer flipped the station again landing on something. "Ah ha ace ventura pet detective. Now that's a classic" he said. She laughed at his enthusiasm. "You know Seth you could barely see from down there why don't you watch from up here" she offered patting the space next to her.

"Are you sure?" he said. "Positive" she said. He got up and slowly sat next to her on the bed. "I'm not invading your space am I" Seth said nervous. She laughed.

"Of course not. But just so you know after the movie He interrupted "It's back to the floor I got cha" he said. She smiled at him and they went back to watching the movie in silence.

Hours later Pacey and Joey came out of the kitchen having talked for most of the night way into the early morning. They saw Marissa and Ryan passed out on the couch. "Marissa's in the guest room huh?" He said teasing her.

"Come on that's platonic she obviously just fell asleep" She said. "Joey platonic means friends and Marissa and Ryan are not defined as friends" He said whispering. She laughed. "Come on Pacey how many times did we just fall asleep after talking or whatever and we never got any slack for that" She said.

"Because it usually happened at the B&B and Bessie was a little lenient with you" He said. "I'm sorry what? Did you know my sister?" She said. "Yes I did" He said. "Really if she was so lenient why did she give me a lecture in high school about me not being ready to sleep with anyone?" She said.

"She said that?" he said. "Yes" She said. "Still how many times did I sneak out of your room without her even realizing it? I mean come on" He said. "Oh you mean the time were you almost broke your ankle climbing out of my window which by the way got me punished for a week" She said remembering. "I don't remember that" He said.

"Pace there just kids and whether you like it or not things are going to happen especially if you fight them on it" She reminded him. "Are you saying you decided to sleep with me because of Bessie?" He said. "No I'm saying if she fought me over every little thing it wouldn't matter because I was going to do what my heart told me to do" She said.

"Yeah I probably would have done it just to piss my dad off" He said joking. "Are you saying you slept with me to piss off your dad?" She said teasing him. "You were never about trying to piss him off and you know that" He told her. "Right I forgot he liked me it's just my dad he disapproved of but hey that was everyone even me at times" She said joking. "Hey I liked your dad. People make mistakes" He said.

"That's true but then why does he keep making them?" She said. He stayed silent he knew the subject of mike potter was like skating on thin ice when it came to talking to Joey about it.. "I'm sorry I didn't really want an answer I was just rambling" she said.

"Joey do you talk to mike at all?" He said wanting to know. He waited for an answer. "The last time I went to go see him in jail I was told he made bail and he didn't even bother letting us know" She said sadly. He nodded.

"I'm sorry" He said. "Yeah so am I" She said cutting the conversation short. There thoughts were brought back to Ryan and Marissa. "I'll go get some blankets so there not cold" Joey said going off to find blankets. Pacey watched her go. When she did she came back and covered them and went to find Pacey who was out on the porch.

"So did you succeed?" He said. "Yep" She said sitting next to him on the porch swing offering him part of the blanket. "Thanks" He said. "Don't mention it" she said. "So you leaving tomorrow?" He said. "No I thought I'd stay until Sunday actually" She said.

"Yeah?" He said. "Yeah did you decide when you're going to go back yet?" She said. "Well Marissa's going back on Sunday because of school but I don't know I'm sort of on standby. I might have to stay longer" He said.

"What about Marissa?" Joey said. "I guess I could ask the Cohen's to look after her?" He said. "The Cohens? And your worried about Marissa and Ryan sharing a couch for the night" She said. Well I'll have to figure it out" He said.

"I could keep an eye on her" She insisted. "Thanks" He said. "Not a problem" She said resting her head against his arm. "If someone would have told me this is where I'd be now I wouldn't believe them" He said. She smiled. He wrapped his arm around her.

The next morning Joey woke up from the incessant sunlight beaming in her face. And she turned to face a sleeping Pacey. She heard some noise in the kitchen and decided to see what was going on so she went in. She came in and saw that it was Ryan.

"Hey" She said flattening her hair down. "Hey. Coffee?" He said pointing towards the freshly pot of coffee. "Thanks "she said going up to it. "So you generally wake up this early on the weekend?" Joey said fixing her coffee. "No but we promised Seth and Summer that we'd have breakfast with them before we left." He said.

"Is Marissa up?" She said sipping the coffee. "Yeah she's upstairs getting ready" Ryan said. She looked at him. Joey was silent figuring Ryan had talked enough and she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable. "How's he doing?" He said. She looked at him surprised that he would actually strike up a conversation with her.

"I think Pacey's going to be okay" She said with a smile. "Good" He said. "I know Marissa will be fine too" She said answering his silent question. He looked at her. "How do you know that?" Ryan said. "Because losing somebody close to you is hard but as long as we have people that we love to lean on than eventually we come to realize that everything's going to be okay" She said.

"Wow you sure you're not a shrink?" He said joking. She smiled. "No unfortunately it comes from personal experiences." She said. He nodded wanting to know more. "My mother passed away when I was fourteen and my dad was sent to prison for drug trafficking but the students and faculty can not know that we're discussing personal matters it's sort of student faculty rule" She said. He was shocked.

" I understand but I'm sorry" He said. "Thank you" She said. "So did your dad ever get out?" He said curious. "Yeah only to make the same mistake again so he went back. He just recently got paroled again a few years ago" She said. "Is he still making mistakes?" Ryan said.

She looked down and then looked back at him. "I don't know because I haven't seen him in years. I went to visit him one day and found out that he had been released and he never contacted me or my sister" She said. "That sucks. But you know maybe it was his was of telling you that your better off without him" he said.

"I guess" She said shrugging. "So I guess there are a lot of us out there with screwed up families?" Ryan said. "Yeah so be glad you're with the Cohen's" She said kidding. "Yeah it was either stay with Sandy or be abandoned by my mother it wasn't such a tough choice" He said trying to make light of his situation.

She remembered reading a sketchy story about the Cohen's being his legal guardians but she didn't really know the back story. "I'm sorry I didn't know" She said looking at him. He nodded. "But you do know that I have been arrested before?" He said.

"Well yes but I know you had your reasons and I wouldn't judge you for them. Sometimes being loyal to our families can cloud our judgment" She said staring at him. "You think it matters to Marissa?" He said. "What that you've been arrested?" Joey said. "Well the whole idea really that I come from a screwed up family, you know my mother's an alcoholic, both my brother and my father are serving time" He said.

"If she likes you which it's obvious she does then no I don't think it matters. We can't fix the mistakes that our family have made we just have to live with them" She said. "Unfortunately" He said. "But you shouldn't feel responsible for them and their choices gone bad" She said.

"I know" He said. "You're a good kid Ryan remember that" She said. He nodded. They heard foot steps tramping down the stairs. She met them in the kitchen. "Hey. Good Morning Joey" She said. "Morning Marissa" She said. In walked Pacey with his hair all disheveled and not so much awake. They all looked at him.

"What's wrong?" He said. "Did you look in a mirror lately?" Marissa said laughing. "Funny since when did you become a smart ass." He said. "Here you look like you can use some coffee" Ryan said passing him a cup. "Why thank you Ryan unlike my niece right now I actually like you" He said.

"Ouch" Marissa said joking. "So what are you two up to this morning?" He said. "Well we promised we'd meet Seth and Summer for breakfast in like twenty minutes" She said. "Alright well you can have the keys to Gram's car just be careful with it" He said passing them over to her. "Thanks and we promise to be back in time to so that they won't be late to the airport" She said.

Joey looked at Pacey with a smile. "What?" Marissa said looking at them. "Well since your going home tomorrow I just thought it would be easier if you flew back with them so I had their tickets switched and called their parent's and everyone's fine with it. I didn't ask you guys because I figured you wouldn't mind" He said.

"Ahem" Joey said. "Okay well actually Joey said you wouldn't mind" he said wrapping his arm around Joey's shoulder. Ryan and Marissa looked at each other. "No we don't mind" They said. Joey laughed. "Great so make sure you fill Summer and Seth in on the plan. Oh and if they want they can actually stay here since everyone's going home today" He said.

"What about mom?" Marissa said. "She already left" He said. Marissa nodded. He looked at her. "You okay?" Pacey said. "Yeah but we better get going we wouldn't want to be late" She said getting up to go Ryan followed her and they left.

"Huh so Julie left without saying good bye to her daughter and she's hoping that there relationship will change" She said shaking her head.

"I just hope she puts more effort into this because otherwise she's going to ruin Marissa's progress" He said pouring the rest of the coffee down the drain and walking out of the kitchen. Joey watched him go hoping that he was right.


	28. A day around town

**A/N: I know I haven't posted in awhile but with the recent promo's and excitement over the new season I've been more interested to write so as always thanks to the reviewers and please keep on doing what your doing. Your great and now onto the update!**

**A day around town**

Summer knocked on the bathroom door. "Come on Cohen hurry up there going to be here any minute" She said. "Okay, okay calm down Summer" he said slowly unlocking the door. "What did you bolt yourself in?" she said.

He opened the door. "Well it's kind of a rule to lock bathroom doors" Seth said coming out. "Whose rule yours?" She said sounding irritated. "Everyone's" He said.

The bell rang. "That's Coop and Atwood come on" She said dragging him down the stairs. By the time they got down the steps they saw Ryan sitting on the sofa. "Chino where's Coop?" Summer said. "Hey man" Seth said sitting down. "Hey, She's in the kitchen talking to Lily" He said. "Okay well I'm gonna go get her" She said leaving the room.

"Summer remember don't be rude" Seth said teasing her. She glared at him and left. Ryan laughed. "So how's Marissa doing?" He said. "She's better than yesterday? So how was it staying here?" He said. "It was alright Summer and I hung out for awhile" Seth said with a smile. "Really?" Ryan said somewhat surprised.

"We had to share the guest room but you know it was cool" He said. "Right so I take it you slept on the floor then?" Ryan said. "Yeah" Seth said sighing. With that they heard the girls enter the room.

"Hey you guys is it cool if Lily tags along?" Marissa said. Seth and Ryan turned to each other. "Yeah sure" They said. Lily smiled. "Great I'll just go tell mom we're going meet you guys out front" Lily said. They went outside and headed towards the car. Seth and Summer sat in the back with lily while Ryan drove and Marissa rode shot gun.

"By the way you guys you're not going home till tomorrow Pacey cleared it with your parents" Marissa said turning in the back to look at Seth and Summer. "That's awesome Coop" Summer said excited to be able to spend more time with Marissa. Seth smiled. "Okay so your gonna have to tell me where I'm going" Ryan said. Marissa laughed. "Just keep going straight and I'll tell you when to turn" She said.

Before they knew it they hit the parking lot. Ryan parked and turned off the ignition. They all got out. "Wow nice diner Coop it's not like the one back at home" She said. "You mean dingy" Seth said joking. She playfully hit him. "Thanks it's actually Mrs. Leery's" Marissa said. "So are you're like all one family?" Seth said. "No actually Lily and I aren't related. Dawson which is her brother has been best friends with Pacey and Joey since grade school" Marissa said. "So how does Jen fit into this?" Summer said.

"Jen moved here when they started High School and they've been friends ever since and now she's even going out with Dawson as well. Actually there's something I have to tell you" Lily said. They all sat in the both Lily across from Marissa. "What is it?" Marissa said flipping a few stray hairs over her shoulder.

"I got into Brown" Lily said. She slapped her five. "Oh my god that's great Lily" Marissa said obviously excited for her. "Yeah a few more months and I'm out of here" she said. "You don't sound like you like it here?" Seth said. "It's not that I just I had enough of the small town life. I am so ready to go to brown" Lily said with a smile.

"Wow so you're like a senior in High School?" Summer said. "Yeah at Cape side high it's no prep school but you know it's alright" She said teasing Marissa. "Hey I went to public school in Austin" Marissa said laughing. "Yeah and now you go to Harbor. So is that how you met these guys?" She said. The waitress came over dropping menus on the table. "Yeah we all go to Harbor" Marissa said.

"That's good at least you're making friends. So tell me all about California? I might have to visit sometime?" She said smiling. Marissa laughed and discussed what it was like back home which pretty much took the whole breakfast time out. When they got back to the house lily excused herself she had to go out with Gail. The boys where playing Pacey's playstation. Marissa went to look for Summer. She was on the porch. "Hey Sum I thought you were hiding" She said sitting next to her on the porch step. "No I've just been here" Summer said seeming sort of off to Marissa. "What's up Sum?" She said. "Are you going back to Austin?" Summer said rather abruptly looking at her. "Austin? Where would you get an idea like that?" She said with a laugh. "Well it's just I heard you talking to Lily and it's obvious that you miss it" Summer said.

"Sum I don't miss Austin and I'm not going to move there anytime soon. My home is in Orange County with Uncle Pacey and you guys. I could never leave now" Marissa said. Summer smiled. "Coop you're my best friend and I don't ever want you to leave us" She said. "Well I'm not going to be leaving anytime soon and when it comes time for college" She said. "We choose one close together" Summer said.

Marissa smiled. "Exactly. So what do you say we go do a little shopping in town?" She said. "What about Seth and Ryan?" She said. "They'll be at the game all day they won't even notice where gone" She said. "Okay let's go Coop" She said. "Great let me go grab my purse" Marissa said.

After a full afternoon of shopping Marissa and Summer returned home. "We're back" Marissa said closing the door behind them. "Yeah and we went shopping" Summer said dropping the bags to the floor.

"Hey guys" Joey said walking into the living room. "Hey. Where is everybody?" Marissa said. "Well Pacey and the boys went out to get a pizza about a half an hour ago" She said. "Oh, Okay so what about Gram?" Marissa said. "She's upstairs" Joey said. She turned to Summer. "I'm just gonna check on her" She said. "Sure go ahead Coop" Summer said. Marissa left them standing there.


	29. Bonding moments and Goodbyes

**Bonding moments and goodbyes**

"So do you want some help clearing off the table?" Summer said. "Sure" Joey said and they started setting the table. "So did you guys have fun in town?" Joey said. "Yeah we actually did which is sort of shocking because for me shopping has always been south coast plaza" Summer said with a laugh.

Joey smiled. "Right I can see how that would be a little hard to get used to shopping in thrift stores as opposed to actual malls and department store" she said joking with a smile. "Where things like this when you lived here?" Summer said suddenly interested. "Actually yes but way more dull" She said with a laugh.

"So that's why you moved to New port" Summer said. Joey nodded. "Believe it or not I actually do miss this place. I didn't realize that until I came back" she said. "Well it makes sense this was when you had the best years of your life" Summer said looking at her. Joey looked confused.

"You know how everyone's always telling you that high school is supposed to be like the best years of your life?" Summer said. Joey laughed. "Your right but they pretty much say that about college too" She said. "So which one was better for you?" Summer said. She smiled.

"High school definitely High school" Joey said. The door opened and she turned and smiled at Pacey coming in. Summer looked at them. "I can definitely see why" Summer teased her. Joey laughed. "I'm gonna get Coop" Summer said walking away.

"What was that about?" Pacey said. She laughed. "Nothing" Joey said. He smiled. Ryan put the pizza's down and Seth sat on the couch. Summer ran down the steps. "Coop will be down in a minute" Summer said. "Well let's eat" Pacey said.

Meanwhile Marissa closed the door behind her. "Hi gram" she said. "Hi Sweetie did you have a good time" She said. "Yeah we had a nice time in town" she said. "That's good" she said. "You know uncle Pacey went to get Dinner" Marissa said. "I know he checked in with me before" She said.

She nodded. "Ryan seems nice" she said. Marissa smiled. "He is" She said. "He's very polite and helpful I had a chance to talk with him before" she said. "Yeah" Marissa said. "It looks like you've managed to make a life for yourself back home" She said. "Well it's all thanks to Uncle Pacey really" Marissa said.

"You're a very lucky girl to have all those people care about you" she said. "Grandpa really loved you" Marissa said. She smiled sadly. "And I really loved him. Which reminds me" she said patting Marissa's hands and getting up to go over to the dresser. She came back with a box.

"I want you to have these they were given to me when I was sixteen" she said. Marissa took the box and opened it to found a simple strand of pearls. "There beautiful grandma" she said.

"Well every girl should have them and on account of you almost being sixteen I think now is the perfect time to give them to you" She said. "Thank you I love them" She said with a smile and she hugged her. "Now let's go down and have some dinner with the rest of the clan. Marissa laughed. "Okay" She said and with that they went downstairs.

The night Marissa was coming out of the bathroom dressed in her pj's. It was pretty late and she noticed the den light on. She peeked in to find Pacey looking through papers. "You should be sleeping" she said coming in. "I couldn't sleep" he said.

"Yeah me either. So what exactly are you doing?" Marissa said. "Just going through some of grandpa's papers so grandma doesn't have to do it" he said tiredly. She stared at him. "Do you miss him?" She said.

"Well it's kind of hard not to miss pop especially with him always yelling at me the house is just way to quiet now" He said. "Well if it helps you could yell at me" She said joking. "Thanks but I'm not really the yelling kind" He said. "I figured that out already as of matter of fact I don't think you've ever yelled at me before" She said.

"I never thought kids should be reprimanded that way I think it's better to learn from your mistakes. And to be quite honest the reasons why I did most of the stupid stuff when I was kid was because he told me not to it was my way of pissing him off I guess" He said. "I'm sure he really loved that" She said. "I don't know about that" He said with a smile.

"So it's gonna be weird leaving tomorrow" She said. He nodded. "You'll be okay right?" He said. "Yeah you know there's Joey and Summer Seth" She said. "And Ryan" he said. "Exactly but are you gonna be okay?" She said. He smiled sadly.

"I'll be to busy to worry about that" He said. "Then I'll just have to worry for you" She said. He smiled. "You should get some sleep your flights early" He said. She kissed him on the cheek. "Night uncle Pacey" She said. "Night kiddo" He said. She walked out of the room.

The next morning they were at the airport saying their goodbyes. "So call me when you get in okay" Pacey said. "I will" Marissa said. "I love you kid" he said. She hugged him. "I love you too" She said. "See you in a few days" He said. "Yeah" She said going over to Summer Ryan and Seth. It was Joey's turn. "Are you sure you're okay because you know I could stay" she said.

"As much as I would love that you have to go. You know I'd be crazy here worrying about Marissa and knowing that she has you keeps me sane" He said grabbing her hand. "Well I'm a phone call away" she said. He nodded. "Thanks" he said. "And let me know when your coming back so we can pick you up okay" She said. "You got it" He said sadly.

She hugged him. "It's gonna get better" She said softly. "I hope your right" He said. She smiled. "I was right about you wasn't I?" She said. "Right about me?" He said. "You grew up to be a great guy one that I always knew you would be" She said. He smiled. "You had that much faith in me?" He said.

"I always had faith in you" She said. Last call flight 323 non stop to Orange county California now boarding" "That's us" She said. "Yeah" He said. She kissed him. "Call me okay?" She said. He nodded. She smiled and walked off to join the kids and off they went to board the plane while Pacey watched.


	30. Jet Lag

**A/N: As always please review.**

**Jet Lag**

The flight was a little dreary leaving everyone a little tired. Joey dropped off Seth and Ryan to the Cohen's and then dropped off Marissa and Summer to Pacey's. "Okay you guys you going be okay tonight?" She said. "Yeah Summer is gonna stay because it's okay with her dad" Marissa said.

"Good at least you'll have company" Joey said. "So I guess I'll see you at school" Marissa said grabbing her bag. "Yeah bye girls" Joey said with a smile. "Bye" They said walking up the front steps. When they went in they dropped their bags on the floor and crashed on the couch. "I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life" Summer said.

"Me either" Marissa said. "Nice to be home" Summer said. "Yeah it is" She said. "You okay Coop?" Summer said. "I'm okay" She said with a smile. "Good so what time is goofus and gallon coming over?" She said.

"Ryan and Seth will be over at seven" Marissa said. "Great that gives us a few hours to catch a nap" Summer said. "Sounds like a plan" Marissa said.

Marissa woke up to find that it was light out. She looked at the clock and started freaking out. "Oh my god Summer wake up" She said getting up. "What Coop did they get here?" She said rubbing her eyes. "No but morning did" Marissa said.

"What?" Summer said sitting up. "Summer it's 7 30 am" She said. "No way we were only taking a nap" Summer said. Marissa flashed the clock at Summer. "Yeah some long nap" Marissa said running towards her room. Summer followed her. "Okay so don't panic we got some time before school starts" Summer said.

Marissa pulled things from her closet. "Yeah like 30 minutes which also includes the ride to school" Marissa said. "Yeah so I should go grab some clothes" Summer said. "Help your self if you want I'm gonna change" She said running into the closet.

By the time Marissa got out of the bathroom Summer had managed to borrow one of her tops and matched it with a pair of her jeans with a pair of Marissa's sandals and she was actually dressed. "Wow you work well under pressure" Marissa said surprised.

"What can I say I used the bathroom down the hall" Summer said. Marissa grabbed a clip and tied her hair back into a some what messy pony tail. "So like what happened that the boys just didn't come over?" Summer said wondering. "I have no idea but we have to go before we get detention" Marissa said leaving the room summer trailing behind.

"Okay so do we pick the boys up?" Summer said grabbing her bag and following Marissa out the door. "No there probably already there" Marissa said getting in. "Well we got ten minutes" Summer said. Marissa pulled out and rushed towards school.

By the afternoon Marissa was feeling the jetlag after having to listen to Mr. Wyatt about being late she really wasn't having such a good day. She was just thankful that he didn't give her detention. She walked slowly towards her locker it was lunch so she could afford to be sluggish.

She brushed the hair from her face and opened her combination. "You look exhausted" Ryan said coming up beside her. She glared at him and threw her books in from her bag to her locker. "What's wrong?" Ryan said. "Nothing I just over slept this morning and I was kind of late" She said. "Did you get detention?" He said.

"No thank god" She said. "Summer wasn't so lucky" Ryan said. "What?" Marissa said. "Yeah Mr. Peterson sort of gave her detention" Ryan said. "Great this is all my fault maybe I should explain to him what happened" She said. "Not unless you want detention" Ryan said. She looked at him.

"Besides Seth got detention for being talkative in History so she won't be alone" Ryan said. She closed her locker. "So what happened to you guys?" She said. "Well I guess we crashed and never woke up I know we had plans I'm sorry" He said apologetically.

"No it's okay it's not like we would have been great company we took a nap that turned into morning" She said looking at him. He smiled. "Well at least you got to sleep right" Ryan said. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I just can't wait for this day to be over" She said tiredly. "Let's go to lunch" Ryan said. "I'm too tired to eat" Marissa said. "Well knowing that you were late means you didn't eat so you gotta eat come on" He said. "I'm too tired to argue" She said. He grabbed her hand. "Good" He said and she followed him.

They slowly made their way over to a table that Seth and Summer were actually sitting at. "Hey guys" Marissa said. "You sit down I'll go grab you something" Ryan said. "Thanks" Marissa said sitting down. Ryan walked off.

"So Coop did you get detention?" Summer said. "No but I'm sorry Ryan told me that Mr. Peters didn't have sympathy" She said. "No biggie it's not like it hasn't happened before" She said. "Yeah and I'll be there since Ms. Davidson isn't too kind on talkers in the class" Seth said. Summer looked at him.

"I thought you only talk to Ryan?" She said. "Well yeah but apparently talking without raising your hand is an outburst and apparently worth punishment" Seth said sarcastically. Marissa laughed.

"Wait a minute so you got detention for participating?" Marissa said amused. "Yes and thanks for the sympathy" Seth said looking at Marissa. "Whatever Cohen at least we'll be there together besides Mr. Blake does detention and you could basically talk as loud as you want and he couldn't hear a thing. They should really make him retire" Summer said. Seth shrugged.

"Well at least you get to go home you look tired" Seth said. Marissa glared. "Thanks for noticing" Marissa said sarcastically. "Seriously Coop you do look kind of tired" She said. "Sum you slept as long as me" She said. "Yeah but I feel like I'm wired" Summer said looking as if she was some how back to normal.

"Yeah I couldn't be more awake actually" Seth said. "I hate you" Marissa said joking. "Looks like jet lag over took you" Summer said. "Which means you're cranky like Ryan gets when he hasn't had enough sleep. Wow you know you guys really are a match" Seth said joking. "Shutup Cohen" Summer said.

Ryan came back over. He handed her an apple and a juice knowing she wasn't going to eat something big but at least it was something. He sat. "Thanks" She said tiredly. "Don't mess with Cooper she's cranky" Seth said teasing her. Ryan glared at him and Seth shut up.

"Okay how do you do that? Because Marissa gave him a similar look a few dozen times and he kept speaking" Summer said looking at Ryan. "It's a gift I guess" Ryan said shrugging his shoulders. "You guys want to do something later after detention of course?" Seth said. Ryan shrugged.

"I think I'm gonna just go home" Marissa said. "No Coop the way you fight jet lag is to wake up and be aware of your surroundings going home and sleeping more is just not gonna help" Summer said. "Okay but no activities to strenuous. I'm gonna get some coffee" she said kissing Ryan's cheek and heading off to the coffee cart.

"Poor Coop" Summer said. "Yeah she's not used to flying I guess" Seth said. "Gee Cohen you don't miss a thing" Summer said teasing him. Ryan looked on. "So what do you guys want to do?" Ryan said. "Well maybe it would be best to hang out at the house pizza movies, video games" Seth suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea I mean Marissa's to tired to do anything else" She said nodding in agreement. "Yeah so then it's a plan" He said. "Yep Cohen I'm gonna need a ride home from detention because obviously I came to school with Coop" Summer said.

"I came with Ryan" Seth said. "So you take the car and I'll go home with Marissa" Ryan said. She nodded. "Okay" Seth said. "Alright I'm gonna go find Marissa see you guys later" Ryan said. "Bye Ryan" They said. Summer looked at Seth. "So detention should be fun" She said sarcastically. He nodded.

Ryan found Marissa sitting in the lounge. "Hey" He said sitting next to her. "Sorry I bailed I just had to clear my head before the next class. I'm falling behind in trig as it is" Marissa said. "Not a problem. So you're in for tonight?" He said checking with her.

She smiled. "Of course" She said. "Great I'm gonna need a ride after school since Seth needs the car to drive Summer home after detention" Ryan said. "I'll tell you what you can drive" She said.

The bell rang. She stood up. "I'll see ya in Spanish" She said giving him a quick kiss. "Adios" He said with a smile. She laughed and walked off.

She rushed towards her locker switched books and headed off to math. Joey was walking in the hall. "Hey Marissa How's school going?" She said meeting up with her. "Well tiring to say the least I sort of overslept" She said looking at her. "The all too familiar jet lag gotcha" Joey said understanding.

"Well I gotta go before I'm late" She said. "Great umm you know maybe I'll stop by later bring you dinner" she said. "Thanks but I'm spending the night with Ryan" Marissa said knowing it sounded wrong. Joey looked at her nervously. "I mean I'm going to hang out with Ryan at the Cohen's Yeah Seth and Summer will also be there" she said nervously. "Okay well have fun" Joey said. The bell rang. "Great I'm late" She said.

She pulled a slip from her pocket. "And now it's excused" Joey said with a smile. "Thanks" Marissa said. "Have fun and don't stress out today you should feel like yourself tomorrow" She said. "Bye" Marissa said walking off to class.


	31. The Break out

**The Break out **

Seth dragged himself down the hall towards detention. He hated this. He walked in to see Summer already there. "Well I guess it's just us today" Seth said sitting down. "Seth Cohen" The teacher said. "Yes sir" He said.

"Take a seat" He said. He chose one close to Summer's. "Since it's just you two today we'll begin. detention is until five o'clock" He said going back to his work. Seth slammed his head on the desk. "Ouch Cohen you might leave a mark" She said.

A half hour into it Summer was doodling in her book when a piece of paper hit her in the head. She looked up. "Gosh Cohen can you been any ruder" Summer said. He silenced her and turned her attention to a sleeping teacher.

"Oh my god" She said low. "Yeah he tends to do this" He said. "So like this sucks we have to stay here while he's sleeping" Summer said.

"No I got a better idea" Seth said quietly getting up and tip toeing across the floor towards the door and gently cracking it open careful not to wake him. He peeked outside looked to see if anyone was around and then turned back to summer.

"Come on" He said. "Seth" She said not so sure about this. He motioned for her to come on. She looked back at the sleeping teacher. "Summer" He said.

She looked at him. "Okay" She whispered grabbing her bag and Seth's bag and quietly but quickly getting out of there. When she reached Seth she said "Now what?" He gently closed the door and turned to face her. "Now we run. Let's go" He said grabbing her hand. Summer laughed and ran along with him.

They didn't stop until they hit the quad Summer hid behind a pole while Seth made sure no faculty was around. "Okay" He said. She followed. "Jeez Cohen you sure you weren't in mission impossible?" She said.

"No but you do pick up a few things from watching movies like that" He said. "Well you were very stealth back there" Summer said with a laugh.

"Well come on its pretty much smooth sailing from here" He said. "Thanks Seth detention was so boring I never actually thought about doing that before" She said.

He looked at her. "What?" She said. "You called me Seth" He said with a smile. She smiled. "Well that is your name or did you forget it geez Cohen how slow are you?" She said joking with a smile. He laughed. He jumped in the car and she got in too.

"So how long do you think Seth and Summer will be caught up?" She said entering the Cohen house with Ryan straggling behind. "I don't know maybe another half hour if there lucky" He said. "Great now I feel even worse.

I mean it's partially my fault Summer never got to school on time" Marissa said. "Well sometimes it's the teachers fault" Ryan said. Sandy bumped into them. "Ryan, Marissa" He said. Ryan nodded. "Hi Mr. Cohen" Marissa said smiling sweetly. "I'm sorry to hear about your grandpa. How's Pacey doing?" He said.

"He's okay for now he's got a lot of legal stuff to take care of before coming home and then he's also dealing with my grandmother so he'll be there for awhile" She said. "Well if he needs any help tell him to call" Sandy said.

"Thanks Mr. Cohen I'm sure he would appreciate you saying that" She said. "Same goes for you kid" He said with a smile. "Thank you" She said. "Ryan tell Kirsten I had a last minute meeting and not to expect me to later" He said.

"Sure thing Sandy" Ryan said. "Alright well you kids have fun" Sandy said leaving. She looked at him. "Pool house" He said. She followed him. They entered. "Oh my god I could barely feel my feet" She said plopping on the bed.

Ryan threw his books on the desk. He went over to other said and laid down. Marissa had her eyes closed. "You couldn't get me up if you tried" She said. "Pretty girl in my bed how can that be bad?" He said with a smile. She turned and swatted him. "Ow that was a compliment" He said.

"Why do you always want to embarrass me?" She said turning over to look at him. "I'm sorry I didn't know telling you your pretty is embarrassing for you" He said sarcastically. She glared at him. "You see I'm serious I'm not gonna talk to you ever again" Marissa said not really meaning it.

Ryan laughed. "It's not possible besides you're in my house" He reminded her. "I could leave" she said. "You already said no one can drag you out of this bed" He said looking at her. She challenged him. "I think I could persuade myself" She said. "You wouldn't" He said not convinced enough.

"Why wouldn't I?" She said with a tiny smile. "Because you like spending time with me" Ryan said. "Is that what they call it now a days?" She said teasing him. "Now who's teasing who?" He said. She smiled. He kissed her.

"Hey guys" Summer said coming in. They broke apart. "What are you guys doing here?" Marissa said sitting up. "Well Seth here found us an escape route" Summer said. Ryan laughed. "And you took it?" She said.

"Duh I wasn't spending precious time in detention" Summer said. "Yeah besides by the time he wakes up detention would have been over" Seth said. "But if you guys got caught you could get in trouble" Marissa said. "It can't happen because when he wakes up he'll think he'd already let us go. I mean tell her Ryan you know how he can be" Seth said.

Ryan was caught. She turned to look at him. "You snuck out of detention?" Marissa said. Ryan smiled. "I'm sorry you're shocked that Ryan snuck out of detention? But it didn't shock you that he stole a car? How'd they do things in Austin?" Seth said joking. Marissa glared at him and then struck him in the head with a pillow. Summer laughed.

"Okay it wasn't my finest moment but yeah I did sneak out of detention before" Ryan said. "So that's where you came up with the escape plan I should have known it was totally Chino's plan" Summer said. "Actually it was Seth's plan from the beginning" Ryan said.

"Sorry Cohen I guess I underestimated you" She said. "Its okay most people do Summer" He said. "So now that you guys are out you wanna hang?" Marissa said. "Yes Ryan pass me a controller you know the drill" He said. "Come on Marissa we'll go order a pizza let the boys do some bonding" Summer said. Marissa dragged herself from the bed. "I thought there was no way of getting you out of bed" Ryan said teasing her. She turned and smiled at him

"Well that's it for me I am totally ready to crash. Come on Cohen you can drive me home" Summer said. "Right behind you. Later guys" He acknowledge to Ryan and Marissa who were lying across the bed Marissa's head laying on his chest. "Bye Sum, Seth" Marissa said. Ryan waved.

"Later. " Summer said and they left the pool house. Ryan looked at the clock it was eleven thirty. "So is there anything else I don't know about you? besides you sneaking out of detention" She said with a smile. He laughed. "I don't know really. I would say you know a lot already" He said.

"Okay so when where you gonna tell me about the musicals you did in chino?" Marissa said. A smile snuck from the corner of his mouth. "Never tell Seth anything" He said to her. She laughed. "He is quite the blabber mouth" Marissa said. "That he is" He said. "But he is like your brother and he does love you" She reminded him. He kept quiet.

"You know I always wondered what it'd be like to have a brother or a sister" Marissa said confessing. "Trust me it's not all it's cracked up to be" He said. "You don't like that you've become a brother to Seth?" She said. "I wasn't talking about Seth. I meant Trey trust me brothers can let you down with the best of them" Ryan said.

"Do you blame yourself?" She said turning to look at him. He looked at her confused. "About stealing the car and how trey took the rap?" Marissa said making sure he understood what she was saying. "I guess I mean true I was only 15 but I still could have said no and I didn't have to get in that car" Ryan said.

"But you were sent to a juvenile detention center you were being punished Ryan for something you didn't want to do" She said. "But I was there" He said looking at her. "Yeah you were. You were there for your brother because you thought that night you could try and save him from a life in jail and ended up being punished for it" Marissa said trying to make him understand that none of what happened was his fault.

"How do you even know that?" Ryan said. "Because in the months that I've come to know you I've realized that you're the guy who tries to make everything better, that you fight and protect the ones you love because that's who you are Ryan Atwood" She said looking at him.

He laughed because she had never referred to him as Ryan Atwood before and hearing it was kind of funny. "You learned all that in four months" He said. "Well I'm a fast learner" She said. He laughed. "So tell about this Theresa" She said teasing him yet again. "Remind me to kill Seth later" He said joking. "What come on it can't be that bad. What was she like your first girlfriend?" Marissa said.

"No because before you I didn't have girlfriends perse but she was my first kiss I guess if I think about it" He said. "Aw how old where you?" She said finding it cute. "I don't know. Eight maybe nine I think" He said. She giggled. "You were eight years old and you had already kissed a girl" She said with laugh.

"I guess I was" He admitted. She smiled. "Anyway enough laughing at me. What were you like six when you first kissed someone?" He said joking. She smiled thinking about it. "No, I was actually ten. It was on the back of the bus with Luke in the fifth grade" She said.

"Luke?" He said. "Sort of my first boyfriend back home" She said nodding. "Oh so it's sort of a relationship you embarked on all your firsts with?" Ryan said trying to be swift.

She looked at him catching on to where this was going and actually surprised that it had taken so long for him to approach the subject. "Yeah except for one" She said honestly. Ryan looked at her assuming she was serious. "Ryan I'm kidding yes I did" She said with a laugh.

"It's okay if you didn't because I wasn't worried if you didn't it wouldn't have mattered" he said trying to reassure her that it didn't matter. "I know that" Marissa said staring at him. "So my guess is you weren't ten" Ryan said low. She laughed. "No definitely not ten. I was fifteen it was right before I left actually" She said remembering.

He nodded. "So I'm assuming you have before?" She said. "Yeah I was fourteen" he said. She wasn't shocked considering his background it made sense. "You know most girls would run screaming after they've heard that" Ryan said confused to why she still was there.

"Well I think we've established I'm not like most girls" Marissa said with a laugh. "No you're definitely not" He said. "It wasn't anything special it sort of just happened and then it was over" She said admitting to him.

"Do you regret it?" He said curious. "No I don't think so I just I guess like most people I just wish it was more special than it was. Although I really thought I loved Luke I don't think I really did" She said trying to make sense of it.

"Why do you say that? I mean you did go out with him since you where ten" he said. "Yeah but I guess it just got comfortable to know someone was there for me especially with all the stuff I've had to deal with my mother, and everything. I'm just saying that a part of me wishes that I would have waited for the person I thought was right someone I actually loved" She said looking at him thinking to herself someone like you.

"Yeah I know what you mean" He said understanding. She nodded. "You can't change time but you can apply what you've learned to the present" He said. "Meaning?" She said a smile finding its way to her face.

"Meaning you're in control of your own future." He said. She smiled and kissed him. Marissa looked over at the clock. "I gotta go curfew" She said. "Come on I'll drive you" Ryan said following her out.


	32. Preparations

**A/N: I know it's been a long time since I last update but I'm trying to get back into the hang of things so I wanted to get this one up. It's little blah but I promise it gets better from here I just need to refresh my writing a little. Thanks for the comments and mcooper11 thanks for convincing me to update on my stories. As always review comments are always welcome and often inspire me to keep writing so if you want more of the story you know what to do to get it faster.**

**Preparations**

When she got in Marissa checked her messages. "Hey Marissa just wanted to check on you see if you were okay. Well my number's on the fridge if you need anything Joey said and then she heard the next beep.

"Hey Mariss I guess you're out. I just wanted to see how your first day back went. Pacey paused and she listened to the silence. "Everything is alright here so call me if you need anything. I'll talk to you soon" He said hanging up.

She looked at the clock reminding her self to call him in the morning. She looked around shut off the light and went to bed.

The next morning he was busy clearing stuff out of the garage when his mother came out. "It's Marissa" She said passing him the phone. A smile came to his face. "Hey kiddo. How's it going?" He said.

She smiled upon hearing his voice. "It's good but it would be better if you were here" Marissa said needing him to know he was missed. "I wish I was there too" Pacey said. "Joey called to check up on me last night but I was at Ryan's with Summer" Marissa said.

"Right well I'll make sure she knows you checked in with me then" He said. "So is everything coming along there?" She said. "Yeah I'm just cleaning out the shed" Pacey said. "Okay well after school I'm going to the restaurant you want me to take care of anything?" She asked.

"No I already called the guys they got it all under control. You should go before you're late to school" He said. "Yeah okay. I love you" She said. "You too kid" Pacey said. "Talk to you soon" She said smiling.

"Bye Marissa" he said hanging up. She flipped her phone shut reminding herself to call him again later just to check up. Then she heard Summer's car beeping so she grabbed her books and left.

Marissa threw her books into her locker. "Hey" Ryan said coming up behind her. "Hey" She said smiling. "What's wrong?" He said. "Nothing" She said looking at him.

"Come on Marissa What's going on?" he said not exactly buying it. "It's really nothing I guess I'm just worried about Pacey" She said closing her locker as they began walking to class. "You talk to him?" Ryan said. "This morning he just seemed so not together it was actually kind of scary" She explained.

"Well I'm sure you'll think of a way to cheer him up when he gets back" Ryan said. "Yeah I guess It's just I know he has to stay there and to do whatever with the lawyers but I really want him to come home" Marissa said. "Well it shouldn't be long now" Ryan said. She shrugged sadly.

"So about this weekend I was thinking we go out and celebrate" Ryan said. She smiled confused. "Celebrate what?" She asked. "Hello someone's turning sixteen officially and well it's a once in a lifetime moment in a person's life" Ryan said.

She laughed. "That is so not a Ryan Atwood thing to say." She said teasing him. "Okay so actually Summer told me that it's a once in a lifetime moment in a person's life so what do you say.? Can I take you out this weekend?" He asked. "Sure why not" Marissa said. "Alright" Ryan said smiling. The bell rang.

"I gotta go" She said. "See ya after" he said kissing her and walking away from her towards his own class. She looked at him as he walked away she could always depend on Ryan to cheer her up. She smiled going into her own class.

Summer saw Ryan in the halls. "Hey Chino you seen Coop?" She said sitting down next to him in the lounge. "She's in study hall something about a test she's freaking about" he said. "huh? Okay so no Marissa this period which means we could talk about the party then" Summer said excitedly.

Ryan looked up confused. "Party? What Party?" He said. "Hello Marissa's sweet sixteen party. Get with it Atwood" She said. "You never said anything about a party and I'm taking her out for her birthday to dinner" Ryan said. "At the diner?" Summer questioned.

"Okay what's wrong with the diner?" he asked. "Nothing if you want to hang out with your buddy Marissa" She said sarcastically. "Well Summer I can't really afford the arches" Ryan said.

"Exactly which is where I come and we could throw a party we could do it at my house. It's free my dad's away and it's super big so we can invite everyone" Summer said. "Right except Marissa doesn't really have a lot of friends besides us or haven't you noticed?" He said.

"Ryan hate to mention this but the girl in her little time at Harbor has become popular. Seriously joining Social chair has put her up their on the a list" Summer explained. "A list?" he said. "Yes so we pass out a few invitations and we got ourselves a nice big old party" Summer said.

"Right except no Holly she kind of well still hasn't grown on Marissa and she doesn't need any more aggravation she's kind of already had enough to deal with" Ryan said. "Good point. Okay so about Mr. Witter do you think he'll be home?" She said. Ryan shrugged. "I don't know things seem a little busy there and they haven't gone over the estate so I'm not really sure" He said.

"Okay so we have some work to do" Summer said. "Do I hear planning going on?" Seth said walking up to them a coffee in hand. "It's a party for Marissa" Summer said.

"Which she doesn't know about so Seth interrupted Ryan"Got it I won't say a word now I could throw my style into the party help you guys out a little" Seth said. "Yeah what with magic tricks? I'm sorry Seth I don't think Marissa's that crazy about magic and what do you know about girls and what they want at their party" Summer said teasing him.

"Summer there is one area where Marissa and myself connect on similar levels. And I'm talking music she has an eclectic style and we kind of bonded over the whole indie genre so I could totally set up the perfect party music that I know she'd love" Seth said.

"That's great" Ryan added. "Aww..That's really nice of you Cohen" Summer said. "Aww are you going soft on me Summer? "Seth said teasing. She glared at him.

"Okay Ryan decorations, cake, present are all you and I will get the invites and I will get down to the bottom of the whole Mr. Witter situation being here in time. And Cohen you got music but can you handle refreshments? She asked. "Sure thing Summer" he said.

"Great then I'll handle the food" She said. "Summer I can't ask you to do that. You've already given me a lot of help already" Ryan said.

"Oh please it's the at least I can do besides Marissa is like the best friend I've ever had I want to do this for her. She deserves to have a great time on her birthday especially with the year she's just had" She said. Ryan nodded.

"So Summer I want to run past a few band ideas with you" Seth said. She sighed. "Sure Cohen walk me to class and I'll try not to zone out" Summer said teasing him. Ryan laughed. "See ya later buddy" Seth said.

"Bye Ryan" She said. "See ya guys" he said.

"So as I was saying Death cab, The killers, Modest Mouse is a must, Marissa is a huge fan of them" Seth said rather excited. Summer smiled. "Sounds great Cohen" She said

"The walkmen" he said "Oh my god I love the walkmen" Summer said suddenly interested. "I know" Seth said. She looked at him weirdly.

"I mean I kind of figured you would" Seth said. "Oh okay so now I have to go shopping after school for the perfect present you care to join me Cohen I don't like shopping on my own she said walking out of the lounge with him.

"Sure I'm sure I can find something for Marissa too" Seth said. Summer stared at him. "Okay you can help me pick out the perfect present for Marissa" he said. She smiled.

"Okay so south coast plaza after school then?" Summer said. "Sure sounds great" Setjhsaid. "Okay so I'll meet you by your locker and Cohen thanks for your help" Summer said with a smile.

"No problem Summer" he said watching her walk away.


	33. Happy BirthdayHappy Birthday

A/N: Okay don't kill me I know its been months but I lost site of the story and simply was at a standing point no longer knowing where to go with the story. But now I'm back after having a writer's boost I felt it necessary to update this story first since it has been the longest story that hasn't been update in awhile. I know I told some of you reviewers that the party was going to give them trouble but here's a hint the trouble isn't actually referring to the party perse... lol... Read on to find out. And if your still around please Review so I know whether or not to quickly end this or keep it going. Thanks everybody!!!

Happy Birthday...Happy Birthday

True to his word Seth had met Summer so that they could go shopping at South coast for Marissa's party. They had been there for several hours already and his patience was beginning to run a little thin.

Seth wasn't at all a pro shopper and just watching Summer picking out item after item was beginning to be exhausting. "So what do you think?" Summer asked. Seth looked up with a sigh it was probably the billionth time she had asked that question today.

"Summer it's a sweater I'm sure that Marissa will love it just fine. I mean it's blue who wouldn't love it" Seth said sarcastically. Summer looked at him weirdly. "Okay first of all Marissa's favorite color would be black.

And second this sweater isn't for Marissa it's for me" She said. He looked up at her. "But I thought we were looking for the perfect present for Marissa?" He added.

"I already got her present hello Cohen I picked it out in the last store we were in remember the charm bracelet we seen. I had it put on hold. I have to pick it up tomorrow morning" She said.

"Wait a minute you did that without me even noticing that's actually rather inspiring" Seth said. "Well they don't call me a swifty shopper for nothing Cohen. So now can you tell me the truth about this sweater so I can help you pick out a present for Marissa" She said.

Seth Shrugged. "It's not really that appealing" He said not sure if he should be telling her the truth. She shrugged. "Well blue isn't my color anyways so lets go" Summer said.

Seth smiled and walked behind her out of the store. "So where do you want to go to pick out your present for Marissa?" Summer asked. "I don't know where does one go to buy a sixteenth birthday present?" He said sarcastically.

She laughed. "Come on Seth don't tell me you haven't done this before you've probably been to a bunch of sixteenth birthday parties before" Summer said forgetting who she was talking to.

Seth just looked at her. "Okay a bunch of birthday parties" She added. Seth shook his head. "Cohen are you telling me you've never been to a birthday party before?"

She asked. "Well other then one that requires you to wear bowling shoes then no I haven't been to one actually. If you kind of remember I'm not all that popular" He added.

Summer smiled. "Well I don't know why I mean you would be the perfect person to ask about arranging the music who wouldn't want to invite you" She said sweetly.

"Thanks Summer but I'm not sure that the rest of the Harbor kids would feel the same way" he said. "So screw them who needs them anyways." She said shrugging her shoulders. He sighed. "Now come on I'm sure we can find something that's perfect for Marissa from you. Maybe the music store has something?" She said dragging him by the hand.

Seth sighed today was going to be a long day but somehow just knowing he was spending time with Summer made him content.

In fact he would go shopping any day if he just knew what was going on between them? It was still a mystery but he thought it was better not to push they would probably figure it out soon enough.

The same day Joey had just gotten home from work and her cell rang. She dropped her purse on the table and opened her cell phone. "Hello" she said. "Hey" He said with a smile evident in his voice.

"You know I was wondering when you were going to call" Joey told him. "Yeah I know I'm sorry things kind of got hectic here and there was just a lot of things to handle. So I thought I'd try you now figuring you just got home from work" he said. She smiled.

"How's it going Pace?" She said. "Well we met with the lawyers" he said. "And how'd it go?" she said. "The will was pretty concise most of the savings and the house goes to mom. My parents didn't really have much savings" he said.

"Pace your not talking to some New Port Snob your talking too Joey here if your parents barely had savings we were just plain poor" she said. He laughed.

"I'm sorry I just feel like I haven't talked to someone normal in days. I forgot what that feels like" He said. "How's your mom doing?" she asked. "She's I don't know really trying to handle things as they come I guess" he said. Joey nodded.

"She wants to keep the house though but I talked to Gretchen and we all talked it over. She's decided to move back home there's more then enough room and you know this way someone can be with my mom" he explained.

"So how long until you get home?" she said. "Well I can't exactly leave just yet. And I feel completely horrible about that especially with it being Marissa's birthday tomorrow" he said.

"Don't worry about her I'm sure she's going to be fine" Joey told him. "Yeah I know Summer called me today and told me that the kids were throwing her a party so she would be alright" Pacey said.

"With any luck I should be home by weeks end though so here's hoping" He said. "Well then that's something to look forward too" She said smiling.

"Yeah it is. I never thought I'd say this but I actually miss California" he admitted. Joey laughed. "Well it misses you too" she said. He laughed. "Well I better go" he said.

"Yeah sure" She said. "Jo I miss you" he said. "I miss you too just come home soon Witter and call me if you need anything" Joey said. "Right back at ya" he said. "Bye Pace" she said. "Talk to you later Potter" he said hanging up. She smiled closing the phone.

Ryan had just dropped Marissa home when his cell rang. "Hello" he said picking up. "So it's a no go with Mr. Witter" He heard a voice say. "Who is this?" Ryan said confused.

"Who the hell do you think this is Chino some lost long cousin calling to see how you're living it up in New Port" She said thinking about her outburst Seth sure was helping her bring out her sarcastic side. "It's Summer" She added.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't recognize the number" he added. "It's okay I get it from Seth. I just wanted you to know that I talked to him and he said he wouldn't be able to make it back for the party" Summer said. Ryan sighed.

"You know what that means don't you?" he asked her. "Yeah that we have to step up our game and make sure that Marissa has a good enough time to deflect attention away from his absence. I mean its kind of hard its not like she has any other family around or family she would even consider inviting" Summer added.

"Yeah Jimmy is definitely not getting an invitation" Ryan said. "Yeah and I don't quite think she's ready to deal with her mom so that just leaves us and a group full of people from Harbor" Summer said.

"This is going to work right?" He asked her. "Sure you'll see she'll be having fun in no time. Don't worry Atwood I got a few ideas and this is one party Marissa is never going to forget" She said.

"Alright well I'm gonna go" he said. "Sure I'll call you tomorrow to set up the details for tomorrow night" Summer told him. "Sure thing and Summer Thank you" Ryan said.

"Please like I said before Coop's my best friend that means I'd do anything for her so no thanks needed. Talk to ya later Atwood" She said. "See ya" he said hanging up.

The next afternoon Seth walked into The Pool house. "So Summer called she's done running the errands and she needs help setting up. It seems she managed to dodge Marissa earlier on" Seth told Ryan. He looked at him.

"How'd she manage to do that?" He asked. "Marissa said something about pulling a shift at the restaurant before going out tonight" Seth added.

"Typical Marissa" He added. "So I volunteered my services I figured you could go and maybe cheer up Marissa for awhile and then get back in time to get ready and to help us with the finishing touches" Seth said. Ryan smiled.

"Thanks Seth I appreciate that and tell Summer I'll be back soon. I'm just gonna run over to the restaurant make sure she's alright and then I'll be back to help you guys out" Ryan said.

"No hurry We got the presents wrapped and music set all that's left is the decorations, waiting for the caterers you know minor stuff" Seth said. "Right well on that note I'm gonna go have fun with Summer" Ryan added. "Thanks buddy" Seth said watching him go.

Ryan made it to the restaurant parked in the lot and crossed over towards the front door. Walking in he noticed her by the patio bar serving a couple who obviously stopped in for lunch.

He smiled walking over to her she was completely oblivious to the fact that Ryan had came in. Her back was turned as she was putting glasses behind the bar.

"Hey" Ryan said trying to get her attention. She turned around and smiled when she saw Ryan standing there with a cupcake with a candle light on top of it. "What is this?" Marissa said with a little laugh. "Well it is your birthday so make a wish" Ryan said with a smile.

The thought sounded tempting so Marissa blow out the candle and leaned over the counter to kiss Ryan hello. "Happy Birthday" He said giving her a smile.

She smiled. "Thank you" she said. "So this place is kind of dead for a Saturday afternoon huh?" Ryan said noticing there wasn't much of crowd there today.

"No I think everyone's probably out enjoying this fine weather that we seem to be having this past week" Marissa said. "Which means?" He added. "That my tips aren't that great" She added. "So you're in desperate need of tips huh?" Ryan said a smile coming to his face.

"Well how else am I supposed to pay for my car. I'm not like these trust fund kids who's daddy gives them everything and who's mother couldn't give a damn about how late I stayed out till. Not that there all like that I mean there are a few exceptions for the parents in New Port" She said.

"Yeah like your Uncle" He said. "Kirsten and Sandy" She added. "And of course Dr. Roberts" Ryan said. "There all pretty great people" Marissa said.

"You're pretty great there your self I mean working on your birthday shouldn't be allowed and yet here you are. I can't imagine Pacey would agree to you working today" He said.

She looked at him with a smile. "He doesn't know besides I got to do something to keep myself busy and I don't mind working" Marissa added.

"Okay I'll let you go this time but only because I got to start going home I'm supposed to be helping Kirsten in like twenty minutes" He said lying.

"Kirsten huh?" Marissa said. "Yep" He added. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a bad liar Ryan Atwood" She said teasing him. "No I don't think I have been told that before" He said with a laugh.

"So I guess I'll be seeing you tonight?" She asked. "It's a promise. I'll be around to pick you up at seven-thirty so be ready" he said kissing her. "I will be" she said. "And don't work so hard" He called out to her. Marissa smiled watching him go.

Meanwhile Seth was setting up the music for the DJ to play. They talked a kid from school into doing the gig. "How's it going over here?" Summer said walking over to them.

"Everything is taken care of and I got a call from Ryan he's on his way over to help" He added. "Okay great" She said hearing the bell rang.

"Well you guys just continue that must be the caterers so I'm just gonna let them in" she said hurrying over to the door.

Seth once finished went off in search of Summer finding her by the front door. "So were all set James is gonna go but he'll be back at Six. So where are the caterers?" Seth said looking around.

"Ummm it wasn't them it was a messenger it's a package for Marissa" Summer said looking at Seth. "From?" He asked. "Her Uncle I guess he just wanted to be apart of the day" She said.

"Well that was nice of him" Seth added. "Yeah I'm just gonna stash this in my room and give it to Coop later" Summer said running upstairs with the gift.

Marissa was just finishing off her shift as she was walking over to her car when her phone went off. "Hello" she said picking.

"Happy birthday. So how is the birthday girl doing?" He said. "She smiled realizing who the caller was. "Thanks I'm okay" Marissa said. "So how does it feel to be sixteen?" Pacey asked her.

"I don't know the same way it felt to be fifteen it's not as if you can vote or anything" She added. "You've been spending time with Joey way too much" He joked.

She laughed. "She misses you." Marissa added. "I know. So how are things at home?" He said. "There just as you left it. Everything's good" Marissa said.

"Well the reason I was calling you was to tell you that I'm not gonna be able to make it back home till probably next weekend" He said. "Which means that you won't be home for my birthday yeah I kind of figured that would happen" She said softly.

"I'm sorry Riss its just with all this work and Gretch not being able to get down here for a few days until she finishes packing her stuff to move in with gram there isn't much else I could do. But I promise I will make it up to you" He said.

"Uncle Pacey don't worry I'll be fine. Truthfully I probably wouldn't be home anyways Ryan's taking me out later and then I'll probably just come home and crash. Really I'm okay" She said trying to convince him.

"Well I'm still making it up to you" He said. "Okay if only if you feel it's necessary" She said kidding. "It is you know I love you" he added. "Yeah I love you too. Don't work to hard" She added.

"Oh one more thing stay away from the restaurant today you shouldn't have been working" He said. She laughed surprised that he knew.

"Okay how did you know that? Did Ryan call you? Or something?" She said.

"No but I do have my ways of finding these things out. So go have fun and I'll think of something we can do together when I get back" He said.

"Okay well I promise I'm actually heading home to get ready Ryan's picking me up at seven" Marissa said.

"Okay have fun tonight" he said. "I will talk to you later" She said. "Bye" he said hanging up. She shook her head and laughed throwing her bag in the car and heading home.

Marissa finished getting ready it was around six-thirty when the door bell rang.

She smiled figuring maybe it was Ryan coming over early running to the door and throwing it open and looking straight into her father's eyes.

"Happy Birthday Sweetie" Jimmy said.


	34. I'll cry if I want too

**A/N: Thought I'd give you another update...Please review...Thanks..**

**I'll cry if I want too**

"Happy Birthday Sweetie" Jimmy said. "Dad what are you doing here?" Marissa said panicking. "Well you didn't think I'd miss wishing my little girl a Happy Birthday did you? I know your stuffy Uncle is down in Capeside but I took a chance figuring he might have let you fly back for school. Looks like I was right" he said with a sarcastic smile.

"Look please just go if anyone finds out you're here Uncle Pacey will have you arrested so just do yourself a favor and go home" She said instinctively trying to close the door but failing as he kept his hand blocking the door from closing. "I don't think so princess" He said aiming a gun at Marissa. She looked at him and froze.

"Dad what are you doing?" She said knowing that she had to keep her cool or else this could get ugly. "I told you I am just trying to spend some time with my daughter on her birthday is that such a crime?" he asked walking further in closing the door behind them. Marissa was cornered and kicking herself for opening the door.

"No" she said walking backwards into the house. "So be grateful I came I mean at least I'm here right. I don't see your mother anywhere so I guess she forgot about the big day" He said with a drunken laugh. "She sent me a card" She said. "Oh a card how thoughtful" Jimmy said.

"Dad your drunk please just put the gun down" Marissa begged. "Why so you can run first chance you get? No chance kiddo" he said looking at her. "Please if you just walk away right now I won't tell anyone you've been here please just leave me alone" Marissa said.

"I warned you that I'd be back" He said. "Dad you wouldn't hurt me" She said. Truth was she didn't know how true that actually was right now.

" But you have hurt me Marissa. Why? I'm supposed to be your dad and yet you've told the police that I've done unforgivable things. You've lied about me when you're supposed to love me" he said.

"I'm sorry. I do love you please just put the gun down and we can talk about it. All of it we can talk okay just put the gun away" She said trying to convince him in a shaky. He looked at her and then they both heard a car door slam.

Damn Ryan for being so early she thought to herself as he got up and grabbed her arm pulling her towards the door" He peaked out the side curtain noticing Ryan coming up the steps. "Looks like you've got company" He said. Looking at him she knew that this time her father had literally lost it, it was as if he was living in his own reality and his only sense of excitement was to torture her when all she wanted was to be left alone.

"If I answer the door he's going to know something's wrong besides we didn't have plans tonight so he won't think nothing of it. He knew I was supposed to be sleeping at Summers so he'll think that I just went over there early" She explained.

Jimmy looked at her wondering if he should trust her as knocking was heard he made his decision. "Get upstairs now" He yelled. Tears were already falling as she did as she told it was already bad she was in this situation she didn't want Ryan to be involved anymore then he had too. "Come on move it" He said.

Ryan stood outside ringing the bell once more. "Come on Marissa" he said checking his watch. He was on time he just didn't get why she wasn't answering. He peaked in the window and noticed that things were placed around as if she was getting ready but there was no sight of Marissa.

He banged again. The more he waited the more anxious and worried he got. Still no answer an idea came to him thinking maybe she had fallen asleep he had tried to go through the back entrance it was usually unlocked.

"Dad please just please just talk to me" She said starting to lose it as he pushed her towards her computer chair. "Oh now you want to talk to me? When I have a gun pointed at you" Jimmy said angry. "Please just I'm sorry okay" Marissa said not knowing what else she could say.

Ryan turned the knob finding it open slipped in the back door. Hearing voices coming from upstairs he was definitely curious as to what was going on.

"You women are all the same blaming the men for everything when it's all your fault. I hope that kid your dating knows what he's in for because all your ever gonna do is cause him trouble and mess up his life" Jimmy said. Meanwhile Ryan inched his way up the stairs with the voices coming closer he realized Marissa wasn't alone. Which could only mean one thing she was in trouble.

"Dad look you don't know what you're saying" he heard her say it sounded like it was coming from her bedroom and without thinking Ryan ran up the stairs as quickly as possible without being heard. "Oh I know what I'm saying. This is reality your mother screwed up my life, and now she left me" he said. "Maybe if you just talk to her she'll see you've changed" She said.

He laughed. "Wake up Marissa your mother has left me and it's all because you couldn't keep your mouth shut. She left and it's all because of you so now you are gonna pay" He said darkly. Before Marissa could respond she saw Ryan burst into the room attacking Jimmy from his back. "Stop it" She yelled.

Marissa searched frantically for the gun and realized Jimmy still had it as he knocked Ryan to the floor by hitting him in the side of the face with it. "You still want to play kid?" He said loading the gun and pointing it at him. "No he doesn't" Marissa screamed grabbing Ryan's hand and helping him lift himself off the floor.

"Are you okay?" he said softly. "Super" she said sarcastically. "Well isn't this sweet you got yourself a boy wonder trying to come to the rescue and save you well that's a very admirable trait" Jimmy added with a fake smile plastered across his face. "Dad leave Ryan out of this okay this is between me and you" Marissa said standing in front of him.

"No this was between us until he had to get himself into it. No matter, since your uncle can't be here I guess he'll do" He said walking over and pushing Marissa out of the way going closer to Ryan shoving the gun into his chest. "Go ahead and shoot me" Ryan said daring him to.

"Ryan don't" Marissa said. "I thought all the rich kids around here would be afraid of a gun?" Jimmy said not backing down. "Well apparently I'm different" Ryan said darkly. "You don't want to do this please just let him go" Marissa said.

"You shut up we're not done first I'm gonna settle this with the kid" He said. She looked at Ryan and then looked around the room for things to use as a weapon spotting a paper weight sitting on her desk slowly backing into it reaching her arms behind her back and grabbing it.

She wasn't just gonna stand there while he hurt Ryan. She flung it hitting him in the head. Ryan looked towards her. "Marissa get out of here" he yelled. But just as she turned to run Jimmy grabbed her by the forearm grabbing a tight hold of her to his side and pointing the gun right into her neck. She cried from his violent force on her.

"What are you gonna do now? You move and she dies" Jimmy said almost daring Ryan to try to make a move. Ryan stared at her and wanted nothing more to kill this guy where he stood but he knew things were only about to get more complicated. "Princess the next time you try a stunt like that you can say goodbye to him" he warned.

"Daddy please" she begged. "Look just let her go and we'll settle this" Ryan said trying to convince Jimmy to let Marissa get out of this. Marissa looked at Ryan as if he had four heads. "No" she said. "Don't worry sweetie we're not finished here but for now we are gonna go for a little tour of the house" He said pushing the gun deeper into her throat.

"Please don't do this" She whispered. "Shut up I didn't ask for your opinion" Jimmy said yelling at her. "Okay now you sit over there" he said pointing to a chair. Ryan sat down. "Excellent now you and me little girl is going to go for a little walk" He said. Marissa cried as Ryan stood by helpless.

"Don't think about moving or she gets it you understand me" He said locking eyes with Ryan. Jimmy grabbed some rope from his jeans and tied Ryan's hands to the chair as Marissa stood quietly afraid that if she moved it would only hurt Ryan in the end. "There you go. Now you got a key to this room?" He asked her. "Above the dresser" She replied shakily.

"Okay let's go" he said grabbing her forcefully leading her out of the room and shutting the door behind them. He led her slowly down the stairs the gun no longer tucked right into Marissa's neck. She thought of a million ways of how to get out of this over and over in her head.

Jimmy didn't have his eyes on her but was looking around as they walked down the long stair case. It was now or never Marissa thought to herself as she quickly elbowed Jimmy in the side knocking the gun over the banister making it hit the floor as she quickly ran away from him running towards the back not even thinking of picking up the gun and not really having time. She ran up the back stair case and locked herself in Pacey's room.

"Now you've done it girl" Jimmy called out after her. Marissa ran to the bedside table grabbing the phone but there was no dial tone he must have cut the wires she thought to herself. "Damn it" she said to herself. She searched for objects or weapons she could use to defend herself as Jimmy had already reached the door banging on it and trying to knock it down.

Meanwhile Ryan was yanking his hands trying to loosen the ropes but in the process getting burns from trying. "Come on" he said coaching himself. Reminding himself if he didn't get out of here Marissa was going to get hurt. He tugged harder and managed to pop one of the ropes leaving him with one hand free as he worked his way around to the other side trying to free himself.

In seconds Ryan was free and got up racing towards the door trying to pop the luck on the door but it just wasn't working. "Come on damn it think" he said as a thought came to him as he stared at Marissa's bedroom window.

"Where the hell are they it's like almost eight already?" Summer said finding Seth by the side of the pool. "I don't know Ryan said he would have her here by seven thirty the latest so I can't see what could be keeping them. "Seth did you invite more people then I knew about?" Summer said looking around at unfamiliar faces.

"Like I said before Summer I don't have any friends it looks like whoever we did invite spread the word that Summer Roberts was having a bash this weekend" Seth said. There were kids completely drunk standing over by a keg that one of them brought in. "I'm gonna try Ryan's cell again" Summer said walking into the house.

Summer tried Ryan cell but it went straight to voicemail. "Atwood where the hell are you? You were supposed to have Coop here already" She said looking around noticing more people who had been uninvited completely stoned and some kids were even doing lines on the coffee table.

"Please just whatever you do just hurry up if your not here soon we're gonna be in trouble. It seems that our party for Coop it's getting to be quite a rager and one that sooner or later is going to have be stopped by the cops. Hurry up Chino" She said seeing Seth walk over to her. "So?" he said.

"Still no answer I don't understand why he wouldn't be answering" Summer said. "Yeah that is a little unlike Ryan" Seth told her. They heard breaking glass come from the living room but then heard something take a crash in the kitchen. "Oh my god" she said. "Don't worry I'll handle it you go check out the kitchen" Seth told her. Summer rushed off as Seth went to see what all the racket was about in the living room.

Marissa stood helpless in her short black dress. She examined her outfit and remembered this was supposed to be a great night. Ryan was supposed to be taking her out and they were supposed to be having fun together not wondering whether the other was ever going to live to see the nights end. The banging continued knocked her out of her thoughts.

"Marissa open the door" he yelled. "Please just go away" she screamed. Before she knew the door was being kicked in and Jimmy was crossing the floor chasing after her. She tried jumping over the bed trying to get out the door when he grabbed her foot making her fall to the floor. "Please just leave me alone" She said trying to fight him off.

He grabbed her neck. "Now you're not supposed to act like that to your father" he said. She looked in his eyes pulling at his hands. "You call yourself a father you're not a father" she said letting her anger get the best of her. He tightened the hold around her neck and slapped her so hard that the ring he was wearing cut the side of her face.

"Now because you can't behave I'm forced to go to these measures" Jimmy said pulling a needle from his pocket. Marissa looked on scared. "Stop just leave me alone" she said trying to push him away as Jimmy jabbed the Syringe into the side of her leg. After that Marissa slowly stopped fighting back. "There now you're behaving" Jimmy said as Marissa became helpless to the drug he had just sent into her blood stream.

"Okay that's it we need too shut this party down and go look for Ryan and Marissa ourselves" Summer said finding Seth by the stair case. "Okay well where's the circuit breakers that's our option to getting all of these people out of here" Seth said.

"Follow me" Summer said taking him down the hall on the left side of the first floor where they came across a closet and she opened it. They both stepped inside. Seth examined the breakers. "So what now?" "We shut the power off" Seth said.

But as Seth reached for the breaker they heard the crack of the door, the wind obviously blowing it closed or maybe it was someone playing a joke on them. Summer rushed over to the door grabbing the handle. "Shoot its locked" She said banging. "Hello. Hello is someone there. We're locked in" She continued yelling.

"There never going to hear us and even if they did they don't want us shutting the party down so it looks like we're stuck in here" Seth explained. Summer rolled her eyes.

"This is just great what the hell are we gonna do now? Coop and Atwood are missing and there are hundreds of high school kids out there that are going to trash my house. My father is so going to kill me when he gets back" She yelled. Seth looked at her a thought coming to his head. "You wouldn't happen to have a bobby pin would you?" he asked.

"Yeah" She said grabbing one from the side of her head. "But what are you gonna do with that?" She asked. "I'm gonna use it to jimmy the lock" Seth explained. "You sure you know what your doing?" She asked.

"Summer I'm a kid who up until a year ago had no real friends. One of my hobbies consisted of breaking into cabinets and closets and doors where I wasn't welcomed mostly in my house, my Grandpa's and wherever else seemed to pique my interest. So I could honestly say that I know what I'm doing" he said focusing his attention on the lock bending down and sliding the pin into the lock trying to twist it.

"Anything to get out of here" Summer said becoming anxious as she heard the sound of the lock pop and Seth twisted the door knob and the door came open. "Seth you're a genius" She said with a smile hugging him.

"Why thank you. So now okay Summer you stand and hold the door open so we don't get locked in here again and I'll switch off the breakers" He said.

"Okay" she said. Seth switched the power off and they heard kids already yelling.

"Come on Robert's time to bust up the party the Seth Cohen way" He said.

Summer grabbed his hand without thinking and walked with him to the front of the house.

The gesture wasn't lost on Seth and certainly made him smile.

**I know I left it on a cliff hanger but It was simply to large for one post...I promise to update soon... Reminder the more reviews I receive the faster I'll update...**


	35. Like I eat paste special?

**A/N: R/R please. Thanks to all you reviewers... My post and title inspired by the Gilmore Girls...**

**Like I eat paste special?**

Ryan lowered himself down the trellis. Grabbing hold of the drain pipe and slowly climbing down figuring the back door might be open. He jumped to the floor and quickly picked himself up and headed for the back door sliding in and looking around.

Noticing the rooms empty he had figured that they had ended up back upstairs as Ryan ran up the steps. He didn't care about the fact that the blood was still dripping down the side of his face. All that mattered was that he helped Marissa.

He noticed Marissa's door was still locked which meant they weren't there as he crossed the hall noticing that her uncle's door was open. No light was on but he didn't need it to see that Marissa was leaning up against the side wall barely moving.

Without thinking he rushed to her side grabbing the sides of her face pulling her hair away from her face. "Marissa. Marissa are you okay? What did he do to you?" he began asking but getting no verbal answer. He noticed that she had obviously been sedated it seemed to be quite the struggle to even keep her eyes open.

"Ryan watch out" she barely got out as Jimmy attacked him and threw him across the room. Trying to punch him Ryan ducked and Jimmy missed. Ryan took his shot at hitting Jimmy and succeeded. "That's all you got" he said.

Marissa looked at what was going on trying to pull herself up but couldn't quite do it. "You call yourself a father look what you did to her" Ryan said angry. Jimmy knocked him to the floor kicking him in his side as Ryan could no longer get up.

"Come on that's all you got" Jimmy said now standing way across the room facing Ryan as he tried to pull himself to his feet. Ryan just barely made it when Marissa had managed to struggle and push Jimmy towards the glass window. As Ryan tripped him Marissa pushed Jimmy forcefully through the window it smashed and Jimmy fell through.

Marissa almost losing her balance hanging out of the now broken window, as Ryan grabbed a hold of her steadying her so she didn't fall out of the window herself. They stared at Jimmy laying on the street and not moving. "It's okay your okay" He whispered as she cried falling to the floor grabbing on tightly grasping Ryan's shirt in her hands.

She sobbed uncontrollably as Ryan dug in his pocket for his cell phone. Dialing 911 he told them his destination and what had happened. "Okay I need to get up to see if he's still there" He told her. But even just standing up alone wasn't possible as she clung to the side of his leg pulling herself up with him.

The thought of being alone even if it was just a few inches away from Ryan was unbearable to Marissa at that moment. He held onto her knowing that she was still a little shaky as they made it toward the window.

"Ryan he's not there" She said looking at the empty spot where her father had fallen suddenly panicking. Ryan looked out blinking his eyes a few times to confirm that he wasn't there. "Okay it's alright I called for help and there going to be here any minute" He assured her.

"But what if he comes back? He'll hurt you I know he will" She said panicking. Ryan grabbed her face in his hands. "Hey look at me alright" He said. Marissa looked straight into his blue piercing eyes. "I'm not going to let him hurt you. Trust me on that" Ryan said.

"What about you?" She said. "I can take care of myself" he added. She shook her head. "Alright come on this room's not safe there's no lock on it and the door's busted. We need to find somewhere safe to hide until help arrives" He said.

"There's the closet in the hall it locks from the inside" Marissa said looking at him. "Alright come on we need to get there just in case he comes back" Ryan said grabbing hold of her hand helping her walk towards the closet door. They stepped in and Ryan locked it behind them. Marissa slid to the floor feeling exhausted.

"Thank god it's a walk in or else how would we be able to fit in here" She said suddenly feeling light headed. "I'm sure we would have made it work if we had to" He said looking at her. She smiled sadly. "Ryan" she said leaning into him as he put his arm around her.

"Yeah" he said. "I'm sorry that I'm dragging you into my problems. I should have never opened that door" Marissa said softly. "Hey this isn't your fault and I'm here because I want to be alright. Besides you probably thought I showed up earlier which is the only reason why you would open the door in the first place" He told her taking his fingers and tracing circles in the palm of her hand.

Ryan didn't know if it was out of nerves or it was just because he wanted to feel her closer. "Even so I'm sorry" She whispered. "Stop saying that this isn't your fault none of it is" he said. Marissa looked at the side of his head and noticed the blood still pouring out from where he got hit with the gun and then looked around the floor for something to hold against the wound.

Her eyes landed upon a pair of clean socks pushed off in the corner as she grabbed one and pulled herself up a little turning towards his face she touched the wound lightly with the cloth holding it there for the pressure.

"It looks really bad" She said scrunching up her face. It was these times where it was fairly obvious she was a girl, the sight of blood just made her want to puke. "It doesn't hurt" He told her. "It looks like you may need stitches" Marissa said.

"Not like I haven't dealt with that before" Ryan said. He saw tears drop from her eyes as she continuously held the sock to the side of his cut. "Hey" he whispered.

"Its just if he would have…… She said pausing… I would never be able to……. She paused again... I would never be able to get over that…. Get over losing you…. She said finally looking straight into his eyes. "You didn't lose me. I'm still here" Ryan said softly.

"For a minute there I thought I would and then things just kept running in my head. All these random thoughts. What if Ryan never knew how I really felt? What If I never get the chance to tell him? What if I never get to see his face again and have him stare back into my eyes and make me smile inside" She said sharing her thoughts with him.

Ryan looked at her and it all became clear he didn't know when it happened but somehow along the way it did. "I couldn't stop thinking of all the things I wanted to tell you but haven't yet and he interrupted her…. "Marissa" he said looking at her.

She turned her attention towards him not saying a word as she continued to listen. "I love you" Ryan said. She smiled at him.

Marissa had never heard those words from a boy before and the fact that it was this boy it made her want to never let him go. She kissed him and then they parted a smile forming on his lips.

"I love you too Ryan" She said leaning into his chest as he hugged her close. They heard the sirens. "Looks like there here" Ryan said. "Can we just stay here for a few seconds" She asked him.

"It's probably safer to have them come find us" he said as they sat there waiting for the paramedics to find them.

"Good night buddy. Thanks for coming sorry about the lights" Seth said sarcastically. As the kid called Seth a jack ass as he walked down the drive Summer couldn't help it but laugh. He looked at her. "What?" he asked her.

"When did you get so good at clearing a party?" Summer said. "I guess it comes from a lot of practice of being able to clear a room. Really Summer I mean you never know what I could say to embarrass someone. You know at School its usually hello and then kids usually mutter something like "Geek" or "Dork" Sometimes something even worse and walk off. The smile dropped from her face as she suddenly felt bad.

"Seth" She said. "Yeah" He said. "I'm sorry for not getting to know you sooner" Summer confessed. He smiled. "Well at least you gave me a chance that's more then I can say for the other kids at Harbor" he said.

"They just don't realize how special you are" She added. "You mean special like I eat paste special?" Seth said trying to be funny. She giggled.

"No I mean special as in you're a great guy Seth. Sooner or later there going to realize that and when they do it will be too late for them to know you and it will be there loss" Summer said. "Thank you Summer" he said knowing she was being genuine. She smiled.

He closed the door behind them. "Now we should really turn those lights back on" He said leading them down the hall back to the closet.

"I'll hold the door" she said. Seth switched the breakers and the lights popped back on. "And there you have it folks everything has been restored" Seth said turning towards her and walking out of the closet. "Seth I'm kind of worried about Marissa and Ryan" She said as he followed her.

"I'm sure they just lost track or time or something" Seth said trying to make her worry less. "Even so don't you think we would have heard from them already?" Summer asked. "I guess" He said shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm gonna go grab my phone from inside and try Marissa this time. Maybe Ryan's phone died or something" She said leaving him standing there.

With that Seth's phone went off. Pulling it from his pocket and seeing it was his parents gave him an eerie feeling as he flipped the phone open. "Hello" He said. "Seth" Sandy said.

"Dad what's going on?" Seth asked. "We got a call from the police its Ryan and Marissa they've been brought to the hospital" he told him.

"I don't understand what happened? Are they alright?" Seth said. Summer came back looking at Seth's face, she looked at him concerned.

"There okay. But I'm on my way down to the hospital with mom and I just thought I'd let you know" Sandy told him. "Me and Summer will be right there" Seth said not wasting any time closing his phone shut.

"Come on" he said grabbing her arm. "Whoa hold on a minute Cohen what's going on?" Summer asked.

"It's Ryan and Marissa they've been taken to the hospital. I don't know the whole story but it seems like for now they are okay but we need to get to the hospital. Do you have your keys because Ryan dropped me off before" he said.

"Sure here let's go" She said passing him the keys to her mustang. They hurried to the car and Seth speeded off to the hospital.


End file.
